Okaeri Nasai,Welcome Home
by Dark-Angel-Shui-17
Summary: Eri, Arimi and Yuka have gone off to Canada on an exchangement program. Kagome is left with three new girls, and when Naraku begins stirring up trouble, the three girls may be the only people to turn to.
1. Ring

Well, another fanfic, inspired in the deep recesses of my mind. Sorry if this chapter doesn't make a lot of sense; I'm hoping it will eventually.  
  
Just a warning: This fic contains characters from the first and second Inu- yasha movies, so if you haven't seen them, gomen!  
  
Okaeri Nasai (Welcome Home)  
  
Chapter 1: Ring  
  
---The Edmonton Airport---  
  
A taxi pulled up to the Edmonton airport, and three girls about high-school age stepped out. After unloading some baggage from the trunk, they stepped into the already-bustling airport.  
  
"So when were these three girls getting here?" one of them asked.  
  
"Let's see." Her companion pulled a book out of her pocket. "They were arriving at nine twenty-five. We still have five minutes."  
  
"And their names are Arimi, Eri and Yuka, right?"  
  
"Yeah. There was supposed to be a fourth girl coming, but she had health matters and couldn't make it."  
  
"Excuse me, ladies." The three girls turned to see an airport attendant smiling at them.  
  
"Can we help you?"  
  
"Not exactly." The man held out a small bag. "This was sent from Japan two weeks ago, and a note said to deliver it on this date to this very spot." Opening the bag, the man took out three little boxes. "Is one of you 'Meg'?"  
  
"That's me." A tall brunette stepped forward, her slim body moving easily in black jeans and a black tank top that exposed her navel, which was pierced with a little dolphin belly-button ring. Black and white flip-flops were on her feet, a beaded ankle bracelet on her left ankle. A few thin bracelets hung on her wrists and she had double piercing in both ears, as well as an earring in the cartilage of her right ear. She took all three boxes from the attendant with a smile, her eyes glittering with several colors at once. The attendant looked at her nails, which were long and had been filed to a point, then painted sea-blue. Those things could easily draw blood.  
  
"Uh, well, have a nice day, ladies," he said nervously, and turned.  
  
"Thank you!" Meg said cheerfully, her low voice almost purring. She turned to her companions, and looked at the boxes. "Here's your box, Kat."  
  
"Thanks, Meg." Kat took her box, a questioning look on her face. She was several inches shorter than Meg, but her body was well muscled and her figure average. Her shoulder length hair was auburn, and her eyes were a brilliant green. Her normally pale skin was nicely tanned so that it didn't look too trashy or too dark. She wore blue jean shorts and a blue tank top with a light cotton jacket. On her feet were black sandals, and a silver toe-ring was on her left foot. Around her neck, dangling on a short chain was an ankh, the Egyptian cross. Her hands were unadorned, but that didn't stop people from noticing her long nails, longer than Meg's; Kat didn't bother to file and color them, liking them better plain. She also had double piercing in both ears.  
  
"Hey, where's mine?" The last girl asked. She was an inch shorter than Kat, and her features were of Chinese descent. Her eyes were aqua-green, and her waist-length hair was braided. She wore black jeans, black sneakers and navy blue tank top with a black work shirt overtop. On her hands were black fingerless biker gloves. Her body was muscular, almost boyish, indicating she worked out a lot. She had a single piercing in both ears, and that was it for jewellery save for a blue stone that was on a chain around her neck.  
  
Meg smiled. "Here, you go, Akkiko." She handed her friend the last box, then frowned at her own. "I wonder who sent these."  
  
"How cares?" Akkiko said, and took off the ribbon and tag on her box. "Maybe the high school we'll be going to . . . ?" She stopped as she opened the box.  
  
"It's a ring," Kat said, and held hers up. It was indeed a small silver ring, separated into three bands that intertwined to form one.  
  
"Somehow I don't think that our new high school sent this." Meg commented.  
  
"I have a note in mine," Akkiko said, holding up the piece of paper.  
  
"So do I," Kat said, unfolding her note and reading out loud.  
  
"To the three who receive these rings,  
  
"They will be very important to you in Japan. The three bands are your present, your past and your future, all of which you will discover in Japan. You will meet a girl connected with your pasts, and she will lead you.  
  
"From, The Oracle"  
  
The three girls looked at each other with identical unimpressed expressions.  
  
"'The Oracle'?" Akkiko said sardonically. "Can you get any cheesier?!"  
  
"Whatever." Kat put on her ring. "I say what the heck? This thing is pretty, and it would be rude to just get rid of them."  
  
"Yeah, I guess." Akkiko put hers on.  
  
"Hey, mine's on a chain." Meg read her note, puzzled. "It's just like Kat's, only there's a P.S.: By the way, Meg, this ring could give you a rash, so wear it on your neck." Meg blinked. "That's kind of creepy."  
  
"Feh, don't let it faze you. Now, let's go meet the exchange students!" Akkiko delved into her red backpack and brought out a sign that read, "Eri, Arimi and Yuka".  
  
Kat sweatdropped. "We're going to stand like a bunch of idiots with a sign?"  
  
Akkiko grinned. "Yep!"  
  
Meg glowered. "No way in he—HEY!! AKKIKO!!"  
  
Akkiko laughed maniacally as she grabbed Meg's purse and started to run through the airport. Meg, mumbling obscenities as she went, followed the cackling pest whose purpose in life seemed to be to annoy her. Kat sighed and reluctantly followed. All three of them ignored the odd looks they were attracting, because that was just the way they were.  
  
They didn't care what others thought and lived only for themselves.  
  
~~~  
  
"Ugh, that was such a long flight," Yuka whined as she, Arimi and Eri got off their plane to step onto Canadian soil.  
  
"Yeah, it was, but how can you complain? You were asleep most of the time!" Arimi laughed as Yuka glared at her.  
  
"I wish Kagome could have come," Eri said softly, as the three girls walked into the airport. "I'm sure she would have loved to come to Canada."  
  
Arimi snorted. "Well, she could have, if she wasn't so sick all the time."  
  
Yuka's expression changed to one of worry. "I hope her rheumatism doesn't start acting up again."  
  
"Or her diabetes," Eri added.  
  
"Or her inferiority complex," Arimi finished. "But we can't let that worry us. Remember, our teacher said we had to come back with a report on our stay."  
  
"Yeah, and that we had to start with our introduction to the people that are taking our place in Japan." Yuka pulled a little book out of her backpack. "Let's see . . . their names are . . . Meg, Kat and—"  
  
"AKKIKO NO BAKA!!"  
  
"Huh, what a coincidence. That's the last girl's name: Meg, Kat and Akkiko. Wait—" The three girls looked up to see three more girls running towards them. The girl in front looked Asian and carried a sign with "Eri, Arimi and Yuka" written on it.  
  
"Those are the girls that are going to Japan?" Arimi blinked. "They're even more hyper than Eri when she's jacked up on five cans of soda."  
  
"Hey, that was not my fault!" Eri said. "Everyone else kept buying them!"  
  
"Someone SAVE ME!!"  
  
"Akkiko, you should know better than to steal Meg's purse!" The last girl in the line, her reddish hair streaming behind her, stopped a few feet away from Eri.  
  
"Excuse me," Eri said. "But are you Meg?"  
  
"Huh?" the girl panted, trying to catch her breath. "No, I'm Kat. That—" she pointed at the brunette who was chasing the Asian girl, "is Meg. The girl running ever so gracefully away is Akkiko."  
  
"Oh. . ." Yuka, Arimi and Eri bowed to Kat. "Hello. We're the exchange students from Tokyo. Pleased to meet you."  
  
Kat bowed back. "Pleased to meet you, too. Meg! Akkiko! Get over here!"  
  
Meg stalked over to where her friend was standing. Akkiko followed a few paces behind, rubbing a goose-egg on her head. "You didn't need to smack me quite that hard, you know," she grumbled.  
  
Introductions were made, and the six girls quickly got acquainted.  
  
"When you get to Japan," Eri said. "I'm afraid none of our parents will be there to greet you. They all have their jobs, but we asked our friend Kagome to meet you."  
  
"Okay," Kat said, nodding. "And I'm sorry your ride to our house isn't here. My half-brother should show up any minute—"  
  
"Kathy! Oh KATHY!!" A teenager pushed his way through the crowd, grinning. Kat developed a twitching vein in her temple. "Hey, Kath—" WHACK!!  
  
"How many times do I have to ask you not to call me that, Dain?" Kat said, as her idiot brother rubbed the swelling on his head.  
  
"Sorry, Sis," he mumbled. He was about Meg's height, and perhaps a few years older than his half-sister, who was sixteen. He had piercing blue eyes and long dark brown hair which he kept in a braid. "So, are these the ladies I'm taking home?"  
  
"Yes," Kat sighed. "Try not to get a ticket, 'kay? Meet Eri, Arimi and Yuka. Ladies, this is my half-brother, Dain Muller."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Dain said, bowing.  
  
"ACK!" Meg said, looking at her watch. "Kat, we have to go! Our plane leaves in five minutes!"  
  
"Damn! Bye Dain! Have a nice stay, girls!" Kat waved as she ran off with Meg and Akkiko.  
  
"I feel so sorry for them," Dain murmured.  
  
"Huh?" Arimi looked at him. "Do you think they'll get homesick?"  
  
"What? Oh, no, those three will be fine. It's Tokyo I'm worried about."  
  
~~~  
  
"Come on Kat; don't tell me you're scared."  
  
"This is my first time on a plane, okay? I'm allowed to get freaked out!!"  
  
"We haven't even taken off yet."  
  
"SHUT UP!!" Kat glared at Akkiko, who was chuckling.  
  
"Hey, Meg, isn't she . . . Meg?"  
  
Meg was taking a few breaths in and out, looking slightly nervous. Akkiko sweatdropped.  
  
"Don't' tell me this is YOUR first time on a plane, too?"  
  
"If I did that, I would be lying," Meg snapped. Akkiko sighed.  
  
"And I'm going to have to deal with you guys for thirteen hours?"  
  
That was when the plane started taking off. And all hell broke loose.  
  
"Oh my God!" Kat muttered as the plane vibrated.  
  
Meg sat quietly in her chair, her expression trying to mask the fact she was tense.  
  
Akkiko grinned. Time to fan the flames, she thought. "Hey, guys, remember that movie we saw a few weeks ago where the plane crashes?"  
  
Kat and Meg looked at each other and shrieked. "WE'RE GONNA DIEE!!!"  
  
Akkiko grinned. "I love my job."  
  
~~~  
  
(Thirteen hours later)  
  
---Tokyo Airport---  
  
"AKKIKO NO BAKA!!!"  
  
"Help MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Akkiko screamed as Kat and Meg chased her.  
  
"What do you have for me?" Kat asked as Meg rummaged in her purse.  
  
"Here!" Meg handed Kat a paper fan, then swung her purse like a mace.  
  
"Akkiko, you're dead!!"  
  
Five minutes later, Akkiko walked into the airport with several bumps on her head. Kat and Meg followed her, still holding their weapons threateningly.  
  
"So where's this Kagome?" Kat asked, looking around.  
  
"Over there!" Meg said, pointing to someone holding a sign: "Fort High exchange students"  
  
As they drew closer, they saw a young girl about fifteen years old, wearing a mini-skirt and long sleeved shirt. Her black hair fell past her shoulders, and she had bright brown eyes and a kind face.  
  
"Hello, there," the girl said. "My name is Kagome Higurashi. Welcome to Tokyo."  
  
~*~  
  
---Sixteenth-century Japan, Feudal Era---  
  
Kaguya shuddered, not with cold, but with fear. She looked over at Kanna and Kagura. She had met the two after disappearing into the monk's kazaana over six months ago. Obviously the oblivion she had sent them into led to the same place the monk's kazaana did: this horrible dimension where all three of them were about to be devoured.  
  
Kaguya growled; damn those mortals and that hanyou, Inu-yasha! She had been trapped for so long in the reflection of the mirror, and just when she grasped at freedom, she was imprisoned yet again. And even in this dimension she was bodiless, a cloud of black smoke hovering a few feet from the ground.  
  
Kagura heard Kaguya growl and smirked. So, the witch was frustrated. She wanted revenge. She wanted life and freedom again. The wind-demon almost chuckled. It was almost satisfying to know that the false tennyo wouldn't get her revenge.  
  
Looking down at Kanna, Kagura grimaced. Even her elder sister was scared of this place. And who wouldn't be? About six feet away from them, surrounding them on all sides, was a thick mist that blew in an unseen breeze. Sometimes an area cleared of smoke, showing the still forms of demons the monk had drawn into his kazaana. Once the mist touched them, they turned into statues.  
  
Kanna shuddered as the mist drifted closer to them. It came closer every day. Soon they would be statues, like all the rest. Clutching her mirror to her chest like a doll, Kanna couldn't help but whimper.  
  
Kagura heard and tried her best to comfort her sister. "Kanna. . ." she whispered, and placed a hand on her head. "It's going to be all right."  
  
"Like hell it is!" the cloud Kaguya screeched. "We will die soon! Not even I can stop this hell-born mist!"  
  
Kagura glared, holding up her fan threateningly. But the demon had a point. There was no way out of this one.  
  
Or was there?  
  
Kanna lifted her head; she sensed something very familiar. Standing, she looked off into the mist.  
  
"Kanna?" Kagura said questioningly. "What—" She felt it too.  
  
There was a bright light from far off. It penetrated the darkness and caused Kanna and Kagura to shield their eyes.  
  
Kaguya huddled away from the light, dumbstruck. "Naraku. . . ? How . . .?"  
  
It was indeed the half-demon Naraku, dressed as always in his baboon pelt. He walked through the mist unharmed, carrying over his shoulder a package wrapped in blue silk.  
  
"Kanna. Kagura. Kaguya." He spoke each name in greeting, his smooth voice oozing over everything.  
  
"Naraku," Kagura whispered, still shocked. "How could you have come here?"  
  
"I am the one who gave the monk's family the curse of the kazaana. I knew of this dimension all along, and can gain easy access to it." Naraku pulled back the hood of the pelt and smirked. "I have come to retrieve you all."  
  
Kagura smirked back at him. "Fine. But don't think I shall be your servant anymore. After all, my heart has re—" Kagura stopped, and clutched at her chest. Pain beyond pain forced her to her knees; she gasped in agony.  
  
Naraku laughed softly. He held up his hand, shaking back the fur. In it was a softly glowing object. "Kagura, Kagura . . . I am the one who gave back your heart. It is only natural that I can take it right back." He turned his attentions on the cloud that was Kaguya. "Now, then . . . Kaguya."  
  
"What do you want, you slime?" she snapped.  
  
"I see your brief brush in this dimension hasn't changed you," Naraku clucked. "Oh well. I have a proposition for you."  
  
"Hmph. What's in it for me?" Kaguya could see what was coming, but asked anyway.  
  
"Escape from this dimension." Gee, hadn't seen that one coming. ". . . And a body."  
  
"What?" Kaguya edged closer, more shocked now than when Naraku had first appeared.  
  
Naraku eased his bundle off his shoulder and set it down gently. An arm fell from the folds of silk. "This was a princess from a far-off kingdom," he said. "She is hanging onto life by only a thread. Feed on the body, Kaguya, and we shall talk in the real world."  
  
Kaguya fell upon the body without hesitation, making short work of it. A few moments later she rose, naked, unflinching under Naraku's gaze. Kaguya was reborn.  
  
"Very well, Naraku," she said.  
  
# # #  
  
FINISHED!! *dies* Ugh, that took too long. My brain! Sorry; I was hoping this chapter would be funnier, but nope, guess I'm saving all the good stuff for later!  
  
Don't worry; there will be more to come!!  
  
Disclaimer: none of the Inu-yasha characters belong to me, nor does Akkiko or Meg. I own only myself, Dain, and the plotline. 


	2. Well

Okaeri Nasai  
  
Chapter 2: Well  
  
"Hello, there. My name is Kagome Higurashi. Welcome to Tokyo." Kagome smiled at the three girls.  
  
Akkiko stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Akkiko. I'm insane, just so you know." Kagome sweatdropped as Meg smacked Akkiko with her fist.  
  
"Baka-gomi. What did we say about telling people about your insanity?" Meg snapped.  
  
"I'm just warning the poor girl!" Akkiko said.  
  
Kat sighed and held out her hand to Kagome. "My name's Kat. Please ignore our insane little friend."  
  
Meg smacked her. Kat glared. "What was that for?"  
  
"You're not helping!" The brunette snapped.  
  
Kat smiled. "Am I supposed to be?"  
  
Meg growled and held out her hand to Kagome. "Hi, I'm Meg. I'm probably the only sane one here."  
  
Silence. Kat and Akkiko suddenly burst out in hysterical laughter. "What?" Meg snapped.  
  
Kagome laughed, thinking, 'For some reason, they remind me of Sango, Shippo and Miroku.' She held out her hand to grasp Meg's, saying, "Please to meet—" she stopped. Something pulsed from around Meg's throat.  
  
Meg raised an eyebrow. "Uh, why are you staring at me?"  
  
Kat placed her hand on Meg's shoulder. Coincidently, this was the hand with the ring on it. "Probably because she just realized that her mind is in danger."  
  
Kagome sensed something pulsing around Kat's hand. 'That's so weird,' she thought.  
  
Akkiko ruffled Meg's hair. "Or she realized you have nails the size of Alaska."  
  
Meg gasped and let go of Kagome's hand. "I'm so sorry, did I prick you?"  
  
"Huh?" Kagome said. For moment, she had felt something pulse around Akkiko's hand.  
  
"My nails. I file them to keep them sharp." Meg explained.  
  
"Oh, um, no, you didn't prick me. Really it's nothing." Kagome smiled, trying to shake off the feeling that there was a jewel shard nearby. "Come on; it's getting late and I'm sure you want to get to your new houses."  
  
Meg, Kat and Akkiko collected their baggage. "So, how long are we staying here?" Akkiko asked.  
  
"Uh . . . three months?" Meg said.  
  
"Oh, that should be fun," Kat said.  
  
"Yeah, I guess," Akkiko muttered. All of a sudden she stopped dead in her tracks, then grinned wickedly.  
  
"Akkiko? Why are smiling like that?"  
  
Akkiko turned to them. "I forgot—we're in Japan!"  
  
Kat sweatdropped. "How could you forget? All the signs are in, uh—JAPANESE?"  
  
Akkiko ignored her, grabbed her hands and spun in her around in a parody of a polka, while singing out, "Japan means Squaresoft, and Squaresoft means Final Fantasy, and Final Fantasy means Kingdom Hearts!" She stopped and turned to Kagome. "Hey, do you guys have a PS?"  
  
"A what?" Kagome asked.  
  
"It's a little box you play video games on," Kat said dully.  
  
"Oh, yeah, my brother has one of those." Kagome smiled.  
  
Akkiko grinned. "YAHOO!!" She grabbed Kagome's wrist and dragged her off. "Let's go! Let's GO!!"  
  
Meg said to Kat, "Here we go . . . again!"  
  
Kat replied, "Do you think we should warn them about the iced tea?"  
  
Meg shuddered. "No, let's leave the poor people to find out on their own."  
  
As the four girls got in a taxi, an ominous figure smiled to herself, and drew a crystal ball out of her jacket pocket. Looking into it, she saw red smoke, a symbol of danger. The grin on her face faded and she replaced the ball in her pocket. "I hope those three find the portal soon." She turned and disappeared into the crowd.  
  
~~~  
  
Akkiko scowled. "You CANNOT expect me to stay here!!" she yelled. Looking around at Eri's room, you could see the reason for her discomfort.  
  
The walls of the room were pink, with pink carpet and a pink comforter on the bed. The walls were plastered with movie and rock star posters, all of which seemed to feature Johnny Depp, Savage Garden, or Orlando Bloom. The pillows all had flowers on them, as did the dresser and wooden desk.  
  
Akkiko turned to Mr and Mrs. Midori. "Why don't you get Meg to stay here? She likes this stuff!"  
  
Eri's parents frowned a little. "I'm sorry you don't like Eri's room, but you'll be staying here for three months, so you'd better get used to it."  
  
As they left, Akkiko growled. "What did I do to piss God off SOOO much?"  
  
~~~  
  
Kat sat at the dinner table at Yuka's house. She had three older brothers, as well as her mother and father. These five seemed to have a thing for talking.  
  
"So, Kat," a smiling Mr. Noriko started, "Do you have any siblings at home?"  
  
"Uh, yeah." Kat took a bite of her supper, and then noticed Yuka's parents staring at her. 'Oh, God,' she thought. 'They actually expect me to talk here?' "Uh, I have a half-brother Dain and a sister, Kim."  
  
"Are they older or younger than you?"  
  
'God, why don't these people just leave me alone?' "They're both older." 'Something tells me that this is going to be a very long three months.'  
  
~~~  
  
"Now, then, Meg," Arimi's mother, Mrs. Haru, smiled at the brunette. "We only have one rule in this house."  
  
"Yes?" Meg was a little nervous. "What is that?"  
  
"We want you to be very serious about your schoolwork." Mr Haru said. "You are going to be living with us for three months, and we expect you to be a better student than Arimi."  
  
"She was always so busy gossiping and reading magazines." Mrs. Haru shook her head. "We hope that you are a much better student."  
  
Meg sweatdropped. Back in Canada, she was lucky if she pulled a seventy in some subjects.  
  
'Yep,' she thought. 'Three months—I'm going to die.'  
  
~~~  
  
(The next day)  
  
Meg and Kat met up with each other in front of their new high school. They took a deep breath, and said, at the same time:  
  
"My family for the next three months is going to kill me!!!" They stopped, looked at each other in horror, and then brushed it off, wallowing in their own misery.  
  
"Hey, guys," said a dead voice behind them. Kat and Meg turned to see Akkiko, who had leaves in her hair and grass stains on her knees.  
  
"What the hell happened to you?" Kat asked.  
  
"Yeah, did you run into a tree on the way here?" Meg asked.  
  
"No, I did not. I just couldn't stand sleeping in that—" Akkiko shuddered. "PINK room, so I slept outside . . . in a TREE!"  
  
Meg and Kat sighed in sympathy, and then Kat started giggling. Meg raised an eyebrow, and then started laughing as well.  
  
Akkiko growled. "What?"  
  
"You're in a skirt!" her friends said at the same time. A vein twitched in Akkiko's temple.  
  
"Good morning!" said a voice behind Akkiko, and she felt someone slap her back. Turning, she saw Kagome.  
  
The three girls sighed. Great; a morning person.  
  
Kagome looked at the leaves in Akkiko's hair, and said, "Couldn't stand the pinkness, could you?"  
  
Akkiko stared. "Oh, you're good. You're good."  
  
Kagome shrugged. "Yeah, well, whenever we have sleepovers at Eri's house, it scares me too."  
  
The bell rang. Kagome went off to her first class, and Meg, Kat and Akkiko went to the principal's office. Getting their time tables and locker combinations, they hurried off, five minutes late.  
  
Akkiko walked into her classroom. The teacher smiled and said, "Everyone, this is the exchange student from Canada. Please make her feel welcome." She turned to Akkiko, who was pulling leaves out of her hair.  
  
Akkiko gave the class one glance and returned to her hair. "Yeah, hi. Name's Akkiko, lord of destruction—stupid twig."  
  
Kagome waved from the centre of the classroom. Akkiko sighed, "Wonderful; I'm in the same class as the morning person."  
  
~~~  
  
A few halls over, in the Grade Eleven room, Kat and Meg ran in, quite late. Their teacher read the note they had, and smiled.  
  
"Class, these are the two exchange students from Canada. Could you please introduce yourselves, ladies?"  
  
"I'm Meg. Call me Megan and die," Meg snapped.  
  
"I'm Kat, sorry about Meg." Kat smiled sweetly. "She isn't a morning person."  
  
"Understatement of the year," Meg grumbled.  
  
~~~  
  
When the majority of their first class was over, Kat and Meg sat chatting.  
  
"Hey . . . excuse me ladies?" Kat and Meg looked up to see a guy their age with brown eyes and dark blond hair. "You know Kagome-chan, don't you?"  
  
Meg and Kat looked at each other, then at the boy warily. "What's it to you?"  
  
"Well, I'm a friend of hers, and I was wondering." He flushed. "My name is Houjo, and I, um . . . I want to go on a date with a Kagome."  
  
Kat raised her eyebrows at him. "Uh-huh . . . and?"  
  
"Well, now that her crazy friends are gone, I thought you could . . . nudge Kagome into going out with me."  
  
Kat and Meg stood up, their chairs clattering back. They both grabbed the front of Houjo's uniform.  
  
"Don't you have any respect for her?" Meg demanded.  
  
"Have some pride in yourself!" Kat lectured.  
  
"Ask her your own damn self!" they said at the same time. Releasing the front of his uniform, they sighed.  
  
"I mean, it's not like she'll ditch you," Meg said, a little more calmly. There was an uncomfortable silence.  
  
"Oh. . ." Kat scrutinized Houjo carefully. "You mean, she has ditched you?"  
  
A nod.  
  
". . . More than a dozen times?"  
  
Another nod.  
  
"Well!" Meg clapped her hands together. "In that case, you're screwed, unless I give you some advice!" And with that she forced Houjo's butt into a chair.  
  
~~~  
  
At lunchtime, Kagome, Meg, Kat and Akkiko all met up outside the school.  
  
"Hey, Kagome," Kat started. "Do you know someone named Houjo?"  
  
"Yeah, sort of." Kagome looked at Kat suspiciously. "Why?"  
  
"Well, let's just say . . . Meg gave him some tips."  
  
Akkiko choked on her soda. "Oh, God, what happened?"  
  
Kat sighed. "Please don't make me tell you."  
  
Akkiko grabbed the front of Kat's uniform, dragging her down a few inches. "Listen, this involves my safety, and possibly what little sanity I have. So spill."  
  
Kat sighed, and whispered in Akkiko's ear: "Let's just say . . . it gave him a nosebleed." Akkiko sighed, went up behind Meg, pulled a paper fan out from behind her, and. . . .  
  
WHACK!! "What the *BEEP* was that for?" Meg demanded.  
  
Kat scowled. "Meg! Language!"  
  
Kagome sighed. "Three months, eh? Well, I'll just think of it as a test of my sanity." She stared at the three girls, who were now throwing napkin wads at each other. 'I mean, they can't be any worse than Inu-yasha,' she thought, sweatdropping.  
  
Suddenly, Akkiko yanked on Meg's braid and slammed her face into the table. "That'll teach you to call me Bing!"  
  
"Oh, yeah? Take this, then, you psychotic demon-thing!" Meg whirled her purse around and chased after a very scared Akkiko.  
  
"Good thing Akkiko's on the track team," Kat commented, sipping her milkshake.  
  
Kagome sweatdropped even more. 'On second thought—worse, much worse than Inu-yasha.'  
  
(A/N: It took us *me and Akkiko* a good three minutes to come up with something worse than what Inu-yasha would do. It ain't easy)  
  
~~~  
  
(The next day, lunch time)  
  
"Hey, guys!"  
  
"Oh, great," Meg said, rubbing the bandage on her nose. "It's the mini terror."  
  
Akkiko sat down at the table where Meg and Kat were waiting. Kat looked around. "Where's Kagome?"  
  
"I have no idea," Akkiko said. "She hasn't shown up all morning."  
  
"That's weird, I wonder if she's sick," Kat said.  
  
"She was fine yesterday," Meg said.  
  
Akkiko sighed. "You know how sudden this stuff is; it's sudden and. . .Sudden and. . ."  
  
Kat and Meg stared.  
  
"What? I'm trying to come up with a word, here!"  
  
Kat raised an eyebrow. "Sudden?" she suggested.  
  
Akkiko snapped her fingers. "That's it!"  
  
~~~  
  
(That night)  
  
Meg, Kat and Akkiko phoned each other on three-way, and decided to give Kagome's house a call.  
  
"Wait," Akkiko said, "Give me a minute—damn Japanese numbers! Too damn long!"  
  
The phone rung a few times and someone picked up. "Higurashi temple."  
  
"Hello, is Kagome there?"  
  
"No, I'm afraid she can't come to the phone. Her diabetes are acting up again."  
  
Meg blinked. "Is. . .That why she wasn't in school today?"  
  
"Oh, yes, it's just so horrible," Kagome's grandfather said.  
  
"But . . . you don't need to stay home because of diabetes," Meg said.  
  
Grandfather coughed. "Oh, well, her rheumatism is pretty bad, too. . ."  
  
"I didn't think anyone in high school could get rheumatism," Kat said.  
  
"Well, and she had to go to counselling too, because of her inferiority complex."  
  
Akkiko swore. "Dammit, aren't there any sicknesses I know about?"  
  
Grandpa sweatdropped. "Well, sorry she can't come to the phone; I'll tell her you called, bye!!" There was a click.  
  
Akkiko raised her eyebrow. "Doesn't he need our names to tell her we called?"  
  
Meg blinked. "That was weird."  
  
"Very weird," Kat said.  
  
"Very very very weird," Akkiko finished.  
  
~~~  
  
(One week later)  
  
Kagome walked up to school, looking tired. Suddenly someone slapped her back.  
  
"Kagome!" Akkiko squealed. She hugged Kagome. "I missed you." She stopped, and stared at the girl. "Hey, where's the usual pain-in-the-butt greeting that life is wonderful?"  
  
Kagome yawned. "I was up all night studying, okay?"  
  
Meg and Kat approached the two. "Hey, Kagome, haven't seen you in a while. Where ya been?"  
  
"Yeah, how's your . . . rheumatism?"  
  
Kagome snapped awake. "You called my house and talked to my grandfather, didn't you?"  
  
"In a word, yes." Meg grinned. "So, you want to do something after school today?"  
  
"Uh . . . no, I'll probably have homework . . . or . . . something. . ."  
  
Meg stared. "But . . . It's . . . Friday!!" She shook Kagome gently. "Are you that insane woman, even Arimi's family doesn't make me work on Fridays.'  
  
Akkiko nodded in agreement. "Yeah—Friday plus homework equals doesn't work!!"  
  
Kagome now looked very uncomfortable. Suddenly the bell rang. She sighed, 'I love that bell.' She ran off, saying, "Don't wanna be late!"  
  
Akkiko called after her, "Don't think you can escape! You're in my class, remember?"  
  
From the distance, there could be heard a word that sounded like: "CRAP!!"  
  
~~~  
  
"Come on, Kagome, you definitely aren't ill, so where were you for a week?" Akkiko prodded.  
  
Kagome sighed and put her head in her hands. 'Great—the first person who actually knows I'm not sick is the person who will prod into my life, find out every aspect of me, and probably fall down a well. Not mention she's insane . . . and she and Inu-yasha would probably kill each other.'  
  
Akkiko sighed, and patted Kagome's shoulder. Coincidently, this was the hand with the ring on it. "Fine, I won't ask any—" she stopped, noticing that Kagome was looking at her funny. "What? Do I have something on my face?"  
  
"Uh . . . it's nothing, really!" The bell rang for lunch. "Well, see you!"  
  
~~~  
  
(In Meg and Kat's classroom)  
  
The bell rang for lunch. Kat looked over at Meg, who was in peaceful slumber. "Imouto-san?" Meg mumbled. Kat poked her back with her chopsticks. "I-mou-to-san?" More mumbling. "Imouto-san NO BAKA!!" WHACK!!  
  
Meg rubbed the goose-egg on her head, beads of tears coming out of the corners of her eyes. "Feh! What was that for?!"  
  
Kat glared at her. "It's lunchtime!"  
  
"So?" Meg rested her head on her desk again. "Whoever put math before lunch was an idiot."  
  
Kat sighed. "It doesn't matter what country you're in, some things never change."  
  
Kat and Meg met up with Akkiko and they went to their usual spot to eat lunch. Kagome didn't show up at all.  
  
Kat turned to Akkiko. "Where's Kagome?"  
  
Akkiko thought for a moment and grinned. "Oh, she fell asleep in class, and she just looked so cute, I didn't think I should wake her up."  
  
Kat stared. "Are you serious?"  
  
Meg turned to her. "The translation: Houjo was in the class and Akkiko wanted to leave the two of them alone."  
  
Akkiko stared then shrugged. "Sure, Meg. You think that."  
  
Kat looked at Meg. "Why are you so intent on playing matchmaker?"  
  
Meg pulled a fan out of her purse and held it up dramatically. "It's fun!"  
  
Kat and Akkiko sweatdropped. Kat glared at Akkiko. "So what really happened?"  
  
Akkiko shrugged. "She just ran out the door when the bell rang, okay? I have no idea where she went."  
  
Meg shrugged. "Well, she was gone for a week. She probably has a lot of homework . . . maybe we're making too big a deal out of this."  
  
Kat frowned. "Maybe, but Kagome is definitely keeping some sort of secret from all of us; she probably kept it from Arimi, Eri and Yuka, too."  
  
"Yeah, maybe. But why wouldn't she tell us? I mean, it's not like we'll be living here forever."  
  
~~~  
  
(After school)  
  
"I still wonder why Kagome wasn't in school yesterday," Meg mused. "Or the day before that."  
  
"Or the day before that, or the day before that, or—" Akkiko stopped when Meg's fist collided with the back of her head.  
  
"We get it, Akkiko," the brunette snapped.  
  
"Yeah, and why didn't she seem so keen to talk about it?" Kat said.  
  
The three passed by the Higurashi temple. Kagome was running up the stone steps, almost to the top. She seemed to be yelling at someone.  
  
"Hey, Kagome!" Akkiko yelled, waving. Kagome didn't seem to hear her. Akkiko sighed. "Come on!" She started up the steps.  
  
Meg and Kat looked at each other. "Akkiko! What the Hell are you doing?" They yelled together, following her.  
  
"Finding out what's up with Kagome," Akkiko called over her shoulder.  
  
"Haven't you ever heard the phrase: 'Curiosity killed the cat'?" Kat called.  
  
"'And satisfaction brought it back'," Meg finished. Kat shot her a death- glare.  
  
"You're not helping!"  
  
Reaching the top, the three girls stared as Kagome was dragged into a mini- shrine by a boy dressed in a red kimono. He had silver hair and. . . .  
  
"Is it just me, or did that guy have dog ears?" Kat said, shocked.  
  
"If it's just you, then I think we're all losing our minds, 'cuz I saw them too." Meg's eyes were very wide.  
  
"Ah, but we would have to have minds in the first place in order to lose them." Akkiko jogged over to the mini-shrine, opening the door that had slammed behind Kagome and the boy.  
  
"Akkiko—" Too late. The girl had already ducked into the building. Coming up behind her, Meg and Kat's jaws dropped as they watched Kagome and the dog-eared boy jump into a well. There was a shine of light from the bottom, and silence.  
  
Akkiko raised a shaky finger. "Did you guys just see what I just saw?"  
  
Kat and Meg nodded. Akkiko grinned. "Let's follow them!"  
  
Kat stepped in front of her overly-excited friend. "Akkiko—no! That's going a little too far, I think."  
  
Meg called down the well. "Hello? Kagome!? Are you down there?" There was no answer, save the echo of Meg's own voice. "Come on, Kat. I'm sure there's no harm in trying."  
  
Kat shook her head. "No way. Let's go!" Walking past Akkiko, Kat felt something tugged out of her backpack. "What the—"  
  
"Meg! Catch!" Akkiko shrieked, throwing Kat's science textbook at the brunette. Meg caught it with a devilish gleam in her eyes and threw it down the well.  
  
"Ha!" She said to a shocked Kat. "Now you have to jump in!"  
  
Kat glowered, going to the well's edge. Grabbing the collar of Meg's uniform, she forced her friend over the wooden lip. "You go get it!" she snapped, and let go.  
  
Meg shrieked and grabbed Kat's wrist. As she fell, Kat screamed bloody murder and grabbed the shoulder of Akkiko's uniform. Akkiko swore as all three girls tumbled into the well. There was a flash of pearly light and then all was black.  
  
# # #  
  
End of Chapter 2! We finally make the journey to Feudal Japan! But I'll save that for the next chapter! Byes!  
  
Disclaimer: I own no Inu-yasha characters mentioned, nor do I own Meg or Akkiko. I own only myself and the plotline. 


	3. Wolf

THANK-YOU to all of those wonderful people who reviewed!! I love you!!!!!!!  
  
Please please PLEASE continue reviewing, or e-mail me! My e-mail is on my bio!!  
  
Okaeri Nasai  
  
Chapter 3: Wolf  
  
Kat and Akkiko were sure they were losing their minds. First of all, Kagome was standing near what looked to be a thousand year old tree, arguing with a boy in a red kimono who had dog ears. Real, freakin' dog ears. Secondly, Meg had pointed ears, and a fluffy tail. Of course, she hadn't realized this yet.  
  
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to when the three girls woke up in the well.  
  
~~~  
  
"Ugh. . ." Akkiko mumbled.  
  
"Akkiko?" She heard a voice from far off. "Akkiko?" Akkiko mumbled something, but still didn't wake up. "Akkiko no baka, wake up!!"  
  
Akkiko reached over, and hit what she thought was her alarm clock. Kat stumbled back, her eyes squiggles. Getting up, Akkiko headed in the direction which she thought was to the bathroom. Instead, she hit a wall. WHAM!!  
  
"Stupid wall," she muttered, and tried to find her door.  
  
WHAM!! She hit another wall. Opening her eyes, Akkiko was astonished to see she was in a box. Kat glared at her, a little bandage on her head.  
  
"We're still in the well, you idiot," she told her friend.  
  
Akkiko glared, still sleepy. "Oh sure, go ahead and make fun of me! It's just because I'm smaller than you!" Suddenly she grinned. "But that doesn't mean I can't kick your ass!"  
  
Kat stuck her tongue out at Akkiko, then fumbled around in the dark, trying to find Meg. Her hand connected with something furry.  
  
"EEP!" Kat jumped back as the furry thing moved a little. She heard Meg mutter something. "Meg, don't move!" Kat hissed. "There's a wild animal right beside you!"  
  
"What?!" Meg leapt to her feet. "Oh my God!!" She hugged the wall of the well and looked around her feet. "Where the hell is it?"  
  
Akkiko squinted. "Meg?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I think the animal is on your butt."  
  
Meg's face turned blue, then red, and then. . .  
  
"Incoming," Kat said dully. She and Akkiko quickly stuffed their fingers in their ears.  
  
"EEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Meg ran to the opposite wall and scrambled up faster than you could blink. Akkiko and Kat shaded their eyes, looking up.  
  
"Didn't think she could move that fast," Akkiko commented, and she and Kat followed at a slower pace.  
  
Now they were at the top of the well, and, once again, were sure they were losing their minds.  
  
"Meg?" Kat said hesitantly.  
  
"Did I get the furry thing off my butt?" Meg demanded.  
  
Akkiko snorted. "I would think that would be difficult as it is attached."  
  
Meg turned, looking down at her butt. "Hey," she said. "I have a tail."  
  
Akkiko and Kat fell over. "Brilliant observation, Sherlock," Akkiko muttered.  
  
Meg's hand came up to scratch her head. "Hey, I have pointy ears, too!"  
  
Kagome and the boy she was arguing with suddenly became aware of the girls' arrival.  
  
"Who the hell are they?" the boy said. Kat and Akkiko stared at him. He was dressed in a red kimono, his feet bare. He had long silver hair and his nails were grown in long claws. His eyes were a steely amber, and his pupils were slitted. He was frowning, and the girls could see that his canines were pointed. Peeking out through his hair were two ears that were similar in size and shape to a dog's.  
  
Akkiko and Kat blinked; Meg was discovering the fact that she had fangs in addition to her tail and ears. Suddenly Akkiko ran up to the dog-eared boy, grabbed the front of his kimono and pulled him down several inches. Then she took hold of his ears and rubbed them gently.  
  
Kat giggled. "Hey, they squeak!" she said, delighted.  
  
Akkiko laughed as well. "That is so cool! I want pointy ears, too!"  
  
Kagome was very pale. "How . . . the hell . . . did you three show up?" she said slowly.  
  
Kat shrugged. "I have no idea; all I remember is Meg grabbing me, lots of bright light, and then I was knocked unconscious. Then I woke up, and someone—" she glared at Akkiko, "—smacked me. Hard."  
  
Akkiko smiled. "Whoops. Sorry."  
  
Meg suddenly laughed. "My tail—it's fluffy!" She waved it from side to side. Little did she know that there was a pair of eyes following her butt as she waved it.  
  
"Hentai!" The three girls turned as there was a loud "WHACK!!" heard from the bushes. A tall man dressed in blue robes stumbled out, rubbing the back of his head.  
  
"I'm sorry Sango! I didn't mean to, really!" he was saying.  
  
"Sure, you didn't mean to, you lech!" A woman carrying a rather large boomerang followed him out of the bushes, her expression somewhat pissed.  
  
The two of them stopped as they caught sight of the three girls. One of them looked disturbingly like Shippo, only she was bigger, and female.  
  
"K-Kagome?" Sango said. "Are these your friends?"  
  
"Uh. . ." Kagome sweatdropped. "Yeah, they are, but I have no idea how they got here." She leaned over to Akkiko, who still hadn't let go of Inu- yasha's ears. "How did you get here, by the way?"  
  
"Uh . . . Whoa. . ." Akkiko stumbled a bit and touched her temple, relenting her grip on Inu-yasha's ears.  
  
"What's wrong?" Meg asked, still getting used to her fangs.  
  
"I know it's going to sound cheesy, but . . . I feel a disturbance in the force."  
  
Kat and Meg fell over. "Akkiko—YOU'VE watched Star Wars?" Kat asked, shocked.  
  
Akkiko shrugged. "Yeah, so what? I feel a disturbance here, people, let's focus!"  
  
Meg got up and looked around. "So, what does this 'disturbance' feel like?"  
  
"Um . . . a disturbance?" Meg whacked Akkiko on the head, a vein twitching in her temple.  
  
"Baka! Do you have any idea what it looks like?"  
  
"How about the giant dust tornado that's heading straight towards us?" Kat asked, pointing. Meg and Akkiko looked and saw that there was, indeed, a tornado heading towards them.  
  
Kagome's jaw dropped. The boy dressed in blue stared at the tornado.  
  
"Hey, isn't that—"  
  
"It is," Kagome sighed. The tornado stopped three feet away from her, and as the winds dispelled Kat, Meg and Akkiko could see a tall boy with long black hair tied in a ponytail. His clothes were compiled of brown fur and blue armour-like material. Kat, standing behind him, saw a wolf tail waving slightly.  
  
'God,' she thought. 'How many people here have tails?!'  
  
"Kagome," the newcomer said, draping an arm over her shoulder. "I've travelled this far distance to ask a favour."  
  
Akkiko shook her head. This guy was hot, but man, was he fake. She heard growling behind her and turned to see the dog-eared boy clenching his hands, and gritting his teeth, physically holding himself back from tearing the wolf-boy to pieces.  
  
"Hey, I'm Akkiko, who're you?" she whispered. "And who's the bishie hitting on Kagome?"  
  
"He is Inu-yasha," the blue-robed boy whispered to Akkiko. "And the boy . . . what did you say he was doing?"  
  
"Hitting on Kagome."  
  
"Ah, yes. The boy 'hitting on' Kagome is Kouga."  
  
"Oh." Akkiko grinned. "He's hot."  
  
Meg was thinking the same thing, although she wasn't looking at Kouga; she was looking at the boy in blue robes.  
  
"Psst," she hissed to the girl with the boomerang. "Who's the guy with the staff?"  
  
"That would be Miroku. He's a monk, but you would never guess it. 'Chastity' isn't in his vocabulary."  
  
In the meantime, Kouga had still been hanging all over Kagome. "I was wondering if you could spare a shard of the Shikon jewel. If I had another one, I know that I could go and get revenge on Naraku for what he did." He looked at Kagome with begging eyes.  
  
Kagome, however, wasn't buying it. "Kouga, we've been through this before: I am not giving you anymore shards of the jewel. If you want to help us look for them, then—"  
  
"Over my dead body!" Inu-yasha growled. "There is no way in hell he's joining us."  
  
Kouga turned to Inu-yasha, a loathing expression in his eyes. Kat sweatdropped; obviously these two weren't buddy-buddy.  
  
"I wasn't talking to you, mutt," Kouga snapped. He looked at Akkiko, who was still standing quite close to Inu-yasha. His eyes travelled over to Meg, who was admiring Miroku (her brain most likely setting up a fool-proof plan for a way to seduce him), and then to Kat, who was just standing off to one side, observing.  
  
He suddenly grinned. "Well, it seems you haven't done too badly for yourself, Inu-yasha. You've picked up two new human girls and a vixen." A cunning gleam shone from Kouga's blue eyes. "Well, since I can't take any of the jewel shards from my dear Kagome, and she won't give them to me nicely, I guess I'll just have to use some other means."  
  
Suddenly Kouga took off running, but not before snatching up Kat and running off before she could even scream.  
  
Akkiko and Meg blinked, looking at each other, then after Kouga, then at each other again. Finally it clicked what had just happened.  
  
"Oh, I'm going to kill him," Meg said, cracking her knuckles. "He is going to die a very slow, painful death."  
  
"Not if I get to him first," Akkiko said. The two girls started off, the same ticked off expression on both their faces.  
  
"Wait!" Kagome called. "You don't even know where Kouga lives!"  
  
Meg and Akkiko looked at each other. "She has a point," Akkiko said.  
  
Turning back, Meg cleared her throat. "Okay, I have no idea where we are, or what the hell is happening. What I do know is that Kat, my older sister, was just kidnapped by some fancy-schmancy track runner with a tail. If I don't go to rescue her in two point five seconds, I may self destruct, so let's get the introductions over with and get going."  
  
Miroku sweatdropped. "Is she serious?"  
  
Akkiko sighed. "I would like to say she's joking, but when it comes to friends, Meg can get scary when our safety—or chastity—is threatened." She glared in Meg's direction. "Even though she does like setting us up sometimes."  
  
Kagome sighed. "Okay, here's a brief summary. You three fell through the Bone-eater's well, which is a portal in time to Feudal Japan."  
  
Meg and Akkiko sweatdropped. Suddenly Akkiko grinned maniacally. "Welcome to the Era of Warring States!" she said cheerfully. Everyone stared at her. She coughed. "Sorry, moment called for it."  
  
"I have no idea how you three get here," Kagome continued. "Usually it's only myself and Inu-yasha that can travel through time. But anyways. . ." Kagome nodded towards the monk. "That's Miroku, and the lady with the boomerang is Sango, the demon exterminator." Sango smiled and bowed. Kagome pointed to the dog-eared boy, who was still looking somewhat pissed off at Kouga's arrival and departure. "That's Inu-yasha, the half-demon."  
  
Inu-yasha's ears pricked and he glared at Kagome. "Must you bring that up?"  
  
Kagome frowned. "But it's true!"  
  
"So? You don't need to go telling two complete strangers!"  
  
"They're not strangers to me!"  
  
"I don't know them!"  
  
"Obviously you will get to know them; we're going to save their friend from Kouga!"  
  
"Why should I? If Kouga has something to keep him preoccupied, then he won't bother us."  
  
Suddenly Meg loomed over the poor hanyou, flames behind her. "What . . . do . . . you . . . mean. . . 'keep him preoccupied'?"  
  
Akkiko laughed nervously. "Oh, shit, she's gonna kill someone."  
  
Miroku came over to her. "I am so sorry for the trouble Kouga has caused. It must be terrible for you to have your friend suddenly snatched away." He bent down, taking one of Akkiko's hands. "Please believe me when I say that we will do everything we can to save her, all right?"  
  
Akkiko sweatdropped. "Uh . . . o . . . kay?"  
  
Miroku rose and put an arm around Akkiko. "And if you need anyone to comfort you, please, don't hesitate."  
  
"Uh, mister, you don't know me, but if you did, you would know I don't need anyone to—" Akkiko stopped and her face turned bright red as she felt something rub her butt.  
  
Meg, who was bitching Inu-yasha out, suddenly stopped as she heard, "HENTAI!!" screamed from her friend, and when she turned she saw Miroku fly back several feet, compliments of a punch delivered by Akkiko's fist.  
  
"He groped me!" Akkiko shrieked, still red.  
  
"That's so gross," said a new voice. "You just groped your sister."  
  
Inu-yasha growled and his hands went to the handle of a sword Meg hadn't noticed before. "Who are you?" he called out. "Show yourself!"  
  
A figure dropped down from the treetops. She had pale skin, and her blue- black eyes were expressionless as she watched them. Her long blonde hair looked terribly out of place around the other dark-haired persons. She was dressed in a traditional kimono, the cloth made of fine silk and woven in a deep blue with silver edging. In her pale hands she held a glass orb which seemed to be filled with red smoke. A small smile was on her lips as she bowed.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Meg said before thinking.  
  
The woman smiled a little wider. "I am," she said dramatically, "the oracle."  
  
~~~  
  
Kat hung on, her heart beating a hundred times faster than usual. This Kouga person ran at about the speed of sound, jumping over rivers, hills, and trees with no effort at all. Kat would have been impressed, but she was too miffed at being kidnapped to admire the wolf-demon.  
  
Finally they stopped in front of a tall waterfall. Wolves and men that looked like Kouga lounged around the river, and Kat guessed that this was near their home.  
  
A wolf demon came over and grinned at Kouga, his fangs gleaming. "Hey," he said, "who's the wench? Have you given up on that Kagome-girl or did you bring us a little snack before dinner?" He went around and lifted Kat's skirt an inch or two.  
  
That did it. Kat shrieked and kicked the offending demon in the face, then elbowed Kouga on the crown of his head. He dropped her and she finished off the pervert by kicking him in the gut.  
  
"Hentai!!" she screamed, hands holding her skirt down. Then she turned her wrath on Kouga, face pink. "And just who do you think you are, wolfie? Do you think it's an effective way to get a girlfriend by just picking her up and running off with her without even being properly introduced?" She glared at him, poking a finger into his chest. He stared at her, dumbstruck, rubbing the top of his now-aching head.  
  
A couple more wolf-demons whispered to each other. "Gods, she's even more violent than Kagome," one said.  
  
"As long as she doesn't notice me, I'm fine with her being here."  
  
Kat, in the meantime, continued her rant. "If you don't take me back to my friends right now, I swear I will—"  
  
"You'll what?" Kouga grinned at her and Kat noticed just how sharp those fangs were.  
  
"Grr. . ." she said, still glaring, trying to come up with an effective comeback. Something whined beside her. Looking down, she saw a wolf sniffing her hand. Immediately Kat softened and she became like a little girl in the presence of bunny rabbits.  
  
"AWW!" she shrilled, dropping to her knees and petting her new friend. "Wolves!" A few more came over to join their fellow as Kat petted and shook paws.  
  
[A/N: What? I like wolves.]  
  
Kouga's jaw dropped, as did the jaw of every other wolf-demon present. Here was a human girl playing with their wolves as if they were lap dogs?!  
  
Kouga tapped Kat's shoulder. "Uh, excuse me, but aren't supposed to be terrified?"  
  
Kat raised an eyebrow at him, looking bored. "Oh, yeah . . . eek." Turning her back on him, she continued playing.  
  
~~~  
  
"The . . . Oracle?" Akkiko said hesitantly.  
  
"Yes," the so-called Oracle smiled. "The Oracle. Also known as Kameko Haru."  
  
"Is that supposed to mean something to us?" Meg said bluntly.  
  
"No, I wouldn't think so."  
  
"Whoa, back up," Akkiko said, "what did you mean Miroku just groped his sister?"  
  
Kameko laughed. "Well, if you want me to expand on that topic, you'll first have to save your other friend. Then come back here. I'll be waiting."  
  
"Hey," Inu-yasha took a step forward. "Have you been spying on us? Cause personally, I don't like people who stick their nose into my business."  
  
"Oh, it's not just your business anymore, half-demon Inu-yasha. These girls are very important. I suggest you help them."  
  
"No one tells me what to do," Inu-yasha growled. Suddenly he felt a fist connect with the back of his head.  
  
He glared at Meg. "What was that for, bitch?!"  
  
Meg glared back. "First of all, I am not a bitch. It appears I am a vixen. Second, my friend is still kidnapped, and I don't see us to going to rescue her. So get a move on, puppy boy and lead the way."  
  
What followed next had to be the staring match—or should I say glaring match—of the century.  
  
*Interruption*  
  
Akkiko: Now which century is that?  
  
Meg: What do you mean?  
  
Akkiko: Well, we come from the 21st century, but we're stuck in the 16th century. So which century is it?  
  
*both look at Kat who is typing away furiously at the keyboard*  
  
Meg: Kat? Ka-at? Did you hear Akkiko's question?  
  
Kat: Not my department!!  
  
*end*  
  
Akkiko sighed. "At this rate, Kat will be dead before we show up."  
  
Kagome nodded. "Time to take action." She walked up to Inu-yasha, who ignored her, preferring to drag out his glaring match with Meg a little longer.  
  
"Inu-yasha?" Kagome said sweetly.  
  
"Keh?" the hanyou growled.  
  
"Osuwari."  
  
Suddenly the necklace of prayer beads around Inu-yasha's neck pulsed and he was dragged down into the dirt.  
  
Meg stared at him, then at Kagome. "Hey, can you teach me to do that?"  
  
Akkiko sighed and turned back to the oracle-lady. "Can you—hey, where'd she go?" The clearing was empty of any oracle. Only Kagome, Inu-yasha, Miroku, Sango, Akkiko and Meg were left.  
  
"How'd she do that?" Kagome asked.  
  
"I can't sense her presence anymore," Miroku said, blinking in confusion.  
  
Meg and Akkiko looked at each other uneasily. "We can't worry about that now. Kat could be in danger!"  
  
~~~  
  
Kat yawned, tired from running around. The wolves she had befriended seemed to be very fond of tag.  
  
Kouga observed her from the river. She was undoubtedly human, but there was an edge to her scent that made her seem . . . different. Different from Kagome and the two humans she travelled with, at least. But she was human, and ever since he had met Kagome he had been partial to human women. Not only that, but this girl was liked by the wolves. She would be perfect as a mate. . .  
  
He rose and walked over to Kat. "Hey, we were never formally introduced, were we?"  
  
Kat looked up at him, saying curtly, "No. You picked me up and just started running."  
  
Kouga coughed. "Well, let's start over." He held out his hand, smiling winningly. "I'm Kouga."  
  
Kat blinked. "I'm . . . Kat."  
  
"Kat?"  
  
"It's a nickname. Short for Katherine."  
  
"Kath-er-in?" Kouga said it slowly. "Strange name—but pretty." He scrutinized her carefully and grinned, baring his fangs. "I'm gonna make you my woman."  
  
Kat stared at him, slightly disturbed. Kouga laughed at her expression and walked away, tail swishing behind him.  
  
Kat stood there, frozen, until the wolves started whining and licking her hands. Her mind was in a whirl. She had SO not just been hit on by this guy, who she'd known for all of two minutes.  
  
~~~  
  
Meg, Akkiko, Inu-yasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku all started walking down a forest path, in the direction of Kouga's cave. Sango had changed into pink and black armour, and Kagome had picked up a bow and a quiver of arrows from the nearby village.  
  
"This had better not take long," Inu-yasha growled. Meg glared at his back, holding back the urge to smack him again.  
  
Akkiko was thinking the opposite. 'Wow, he's so tough,' she thought. 'And his sword is so cool, and his ears are so cute, and that hair . . .' In short, she was in heaven.  
  
*interruption*  
  
Akkiko: Kaaaaaaaaaat!  
  
Kat: She's gonna kill me!!  
  
Akkiko: Are you trying to publicly degrade me?  
  
Meg: I don't think she's trying. . . .  
  
Akkiko: *glares* No comments from the peanut gallery, you peanut!  
  
Meg: I'm hurt. . .  
  
Kat: *hiding in bomb shelter* Just remember, Akkiko—if you kill me, I can't finish this!  
  
Akkiko: Which is why I'm gonna kill you after!  
  
Kat: I'm doomed. . .  
  
*end interruption*  
  
"It'll take as long as it takes," Meg snapped at Inu-yasha. "We have to go and rescue Kat—who knows what that demon is going to do to her."  
  
"I wonder if he used the 'I'm gonna make you my woman' line yet," Miroku mused.  
  
Suddenly Meg loomed over him. Akkiko sweatdropped.  
  
"Uh-oh, Meg's gone into Armageddon-mode."  
  
"MATTE!!" something screamed behind them. The group turned, and suddenly a little boy with a fluffy tail leapt out of the bushes and tackled Inu- yasha. "Inu-yasha, you bastard, you left me behind again!!"  
  
"Shippo!" Kagome said, outraged. "Don't swear!"  
  
The little boy, whose ears were pointed, as were his teeth, beat his tiny fists against Inu-yasha's chest, trying to do damage. [-_-;;] Suddenly he felt a hand close around his tail as Akkiko picked him up.  
  
"Hey!!" he squawked. "Put me down!!"  
  
Akkiko, ignoring the pup's outbursts, held him up so that she was looking at both Meg (who had stopped verbally berating Miroku upon Shippo's arrival) and the kitsune.  
  
"Wow, that's so . . . creepy," Akkiko said finally. "You two—I mean, you look so—"  
  
"They could be siblings," Sango said, also looking from Shippo to Meg.  
  
Meg made a noise in the back of her throat. "Okay, One: I'll admit there're some similarities, except of course that I'm hell of a lot bigger and female. Two: Akkiko, for God's sakes, put the poor guy down before he gets an ulcer. And Three: This happy little reunion isn't getting up any closer to Kat!!" An ugly look settling on her face, Meg flipped her braid over her shoulder and continued down the path.  
  
Akkiko set Shippo down and ran after her friend. The little kitsune looked from Meg to Kagome. "Who was that?" he asked, confused. "Why are they dressed like you, Kagome?"  
  
Kagome picked him up and continued walking. "I'll explain on the way."  
  
~~~  
  
Kat wandered back over to the river, trying to figure out how the hell to get out of this mess. That Kouga idiot seemed like an okay guy—but claiming her for "his woman" went a little over the line. Not to mention each time he smiled at her now, Kat's skin crawled.  
  
The only problem was now the wolves liked her so much they wouldn't let her go very far from the den. They would whine and yelp until one of the wolf- demons came and then she would have to come up with a believable excuse. It just didn't work.  
  
Kneeling over to get a drink, Kat nearly choked as she got an idea. She stared up at the waterfall, and then her eyes went along the river path until it dipped out of sight. It was a risky move, but. . .  
  
"Kat," said a voice behind her. Kat nearly jumped into the river in surprise, but a hand on her shoulder prevented her from moving.  
  
Taking a deep breath, she turned, smiling. "Hello, Kouga."  
  
"I've brought back a nice boar for dinner, and it'll be finished cooking soon." The wolf demon grinned down at her. "So you might want to wash up."  
  
"Oh, yeah, I'll do that," Kat said, smiling to herself. 'What an idiot,' she thought. 'He doesn't even know what I'm planning!'  
  
"Oh, and by the way, Kat. . ." Kouga winked at her. "Don't try and escape, right?"  
  
Kat gave him her most winning smile. "Of course not."  
  
Turning her back to him, she busied herself with the pretence of 'cleaning herself up'. She heard Kouga turn and begin to walk away, and without another word, Kat stood and threw herself in the river.  
  
It wasn't as deep as she thought, but she was quickly picked up and carried away by the current. She fought to the surface and as a breath of air entered her lungs, she heard Kouga's shout of dismay. Grinning wickedly, Kat began treading the water, carrying herself even further away from the wolf-demon camp.  
  
"My first Great Escape," she gasped to herself. "Not bad."  
  
YOINK!! "ACK!!" Kat screamed as something grabbed the back of her collar. It was a very big talon. Kat stared as she was pulled from the river by some sort of huge bird-thing—only it wasn't a real bird, it was something from a nightmare, with a huge, gaping mouth, and a human torso on top of its head.  
  
As the bird-demon started to carry her away, Kat heard a jumble of voices from the den—"Damn those birds, they're back!" "Shoot it down!" "Don't hit the human!" "Yeah, Kouga'll kill you if you do!"  
  
A single thought went through Kat's head: 'Oh my God, I'm going to die.' Gritting her teeth, she shook her head.  
  
"No way in hell," she muttered. "I'm not gonna die this far from home, in some strange time that isn't my own. I'm not going to die—I can't hurt my friends and family like that." Twisting in the bird's grip, she tugged at the back of her uniform until it tore free. As she fell back into the river, she saw Kouga leap from the bank and slice the bird-demon in half.  
  
Reaching the surface again, Kat bumped into a rock and climbed out of the river, gasping for breath. Kouga neatly landed on a nearby rock, scooped her up, and returned to the bank.  
  
"S-sorry," she stuttered. "I fell in. . .Stupid me. . ."  
  
Kouga patted her back and helped her up. "You're staying in the den for now," he said. "We'll keep you out of sight of those damn Birds of Paradise."  
  
That was the thing that had snatched her? Kat thought dully. What a stupid, oxymoronic name.  
  
~~~  
  
Meg and Akkiko blinked. "Did . . . did you just feel that?" Meg asked hesitantly.  
  
"It felt. . ." Akkiko stopped and tried again. "It felt like I was underwater."  
  
"I felt something grabbing the back of my shirt." The two girls stared at each other for a second and then ran up to Inu-yasha.  
  
"Can't we go faster?" Meg demanded.  
  
"Don't you know any shortcuts?" Akkiko asked.  
  
"Kat could be in trouble and we have to get to her FAST!!" they said at the same time.  
  
Inu-yasha stepped back, looking harassed. "Stop harassing me you freaky wenches!!" he snapped, and jumped into a tree. Sitting down, he said, "Kouga's den is right over that hill."  
  
Meg and Akkiko looked up at the hill, smiled evilly, and began running. Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kagome all looked at each other and ran after them. Before going five steps, Kagome turned back to the tree Inu-yasha was in.  
  
"Come on, Inu-yasha," she called. "We may need your help!"  
  
"Keh," Inu-yasha snapped. "Why should I—"  
  
"OSUWARI!!" *CRASH!!* "You're so pig-headed!"  
  
Inu-yasha dragged himself up from the newest crater in the woods, and glared. "You don't leave much room for argument, do you, bitch?"  
  
"Not really," Kagome said over her shoulder, catching up with the others, who had stopped.  
  
"Like I said," Meg grinned. "You have GOT to teach me how to do that! Now then! You guys go save Kat—I'll go, ah, *take care* of Kouga." The maniacal look on her face left no room for argument.  
  
~~~  
  
Kat huddled in the den, away from everyone that had finished dinner.  
  
'If those guys don't come save me soon, I'm gonna kill them,' she thought darkly. 'Honestly—' she heard crashing from outside the cave, 'you'd think they'd have something better to do—' More crashing. '—then just sit . . . around . . . on their . . . butts—' "OH MY GOD, the roof's falling down!" she screamed as the roof crumbled and deposited Akkiko, Inu-yasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo into the cave.  
  
The wolves all leapt to their feet, growling, and the wolf demon's also picked up their spears and axes, but before they could actually do anything Kat had ran across the cave to latch onto Akkiko.  
  
"I knew you guys would come and save me!" she squealed, squeezing her friend.  
  
"Kat—let—can't—breathe!!" Akkiko managed to get out.  
  
"Come on," Kagome said, "We've got to get out of here quickly." She drew an arrow from her quiver and released it. It lodged in the ground two inches from a wolf demon's foot and in the shock that followed the group charged forward. Inu-yasha immediately set to knocking out as many demons as he could, paving a clear path for the others to follow. Soon all of them had gotten clear of the den and were hiding in the forest.  
  
Kat looked around. "Wait a second," she said. "Where the hell is Meg?"  
  
"She's . . . erm. . . taking care of Kouga." Akkiko looked nervously back at the den, as if expecting to see a mushroom cloud erupt any minute.  
  
Kat blinked. "You know . . . somehow, knowing Meg is 'taking care' of Kouga doesn't comfort me."  
  
Akkiko sighed. "I'll go get her."  
  
"Oh no," Inu-yasha said, cracking his knuckles. "Allow me to go get her."  
  
Kat and Akkiko stared at him, then at each other, and then back at him. "NO!" they said, and Akkiko ran off towards the wolf den as Kat tackled Inu- yasha, holding him down.  
  
Kagome sighed as Inu-yasha pried Kat off with little effort, and opened her mouth.  
  
As Akkiko was running away, she heard "Osuwari!" and grinned. Peeking over the hill, she looked around for her newly-tailed friend.  
  
"Oh, Lord." Akkiko rubbed her eyes. She could not believe what she was seeing. Where the hell could you find pink hairspray in the feudal era?  
  
~~~  
  
Kat and the others looked up as Meg and Akkiko entered the clearing where they were waiting. Meg had a very satisfied look on her face, and Akkiko was looking very disturbed.  
  
"What happened?" Kagome asked.  
  
"What did you do to Kouga, Meg?" Kat looked half-afraid of what the answer would be.  
  
"You don't want to know," Akkiko said quickly, grabbing Kat and Kagome's hands and dragging them—literally—along the path. "Come on; let's get back to the oracle-lady-person-thingy. . ."  
  
Meg's grin widened. As she went past Inu-yasha, he muttered to Miroku, "Whatever she did, if it keeps Kouga out of way I'm fine with it, but honestly—if she doesn't get that look off her face I may have to slit my wrists to put myself out of my misery."  
  
"Double for me," Miroku said, and the two boys followed the others.  
  
~~~  
  
"You're kidding," Kat said, as the group neared the clearing where Kameko Haru had made her entrance. "You're saying that after I was kidnapped, this chick claiming to be an oracle dropped in from nowhere and said Miroku was groping his sister?!"  
  
"That's basically it," Akkiko said dully. "I don't get it either—we just have to trust that she'll be there when we arrive."  
  
"Don't get your hopes up," Meg said flatly. "I personally think she'll be long—" She stopped short as they entered the clearing.  
  
"Well, hello," Kameko Haru smiled, taking a sip from a tea cup. She was on the other side of the clearing, under a tree that blocked the afternoon sun. Sitting on a grey blanket spread out beneath her, the oracle gestured to the tea set she had brought along. "I'm afraid the tea's gone cold—and honestly, I don't blame it. I was starting to think you wouldn't show up at all."  
  
"Can't you just look in your pretty crystal ball and go 'bibbidy bobbidy boo' or something?" Meg asked sardonically.  
  
The jib did not seem to faze the woman. "No, I'm afraid that won't do me any good, Megan Amanda Thorn."  
  
Meg's face went quite pale. "How—how do you—"  
  
Akkiko thought it would be best to intervene at this point. "Okay, Miss Oracle-From-the-Great-Beyond," she began hotly. "You said we'd get answers when we rescued Kat. Here she is—" Akkiko grabbed Kat's shoulders and pinched her cheeks to emphasize her point, "—so now we want answers."  
  
Kameko Haru rose gracefully and smiled as the three girls, as well as the hanyou, monk, demon exterminator, kitsune and reincarnated miko that were hovering behind them.  
  
Keeping the smile on her face, the oracle said, "As you wish."  
  
# # #  
  
. . . Do you people know how long it took me to finish this chapter? GAAAAAAAAHH!!  
  
Muses: Please excuse her, she's hyper.  
  
Dark Angel Kiki (aka Kat): I am NOT . . . well, if I said I wasn't I would be lying, and I never lie about the truth!!  
  
Muses: That's circular logic.  
  
Kat: Do I look like I care?  
  
Meg: HOW can you just END it like that??  
  
Akkiko: Yeah—write more! More! MORRRRRRE!!  
  
Kat= -_-;;  
  
Kat: And you people say I'M hyper?!  
  
Muses=_  
  
Oh, BTW, if you're interested in what Meg did to Kouga, don't worry, I'll touch on THAT subject . . . later [evil grin]  
  
Disclaimer: Look at it this way: if I owned Inu-yasha, Kikyo would have thrown herself off a cliff by now—and stayed DEAD!!!! No, me—I just own the plot and myself. Akkiko owns herself, and Meg owns herself—  
  
Meg: And I own Miroku!!  
  
Kat: No—NO, Meg, if you start saying you own Miroku, you'll be sued.  
  
Meg: But I DO own him!!  
  
Lawyers: Ahem.  
  
Kat and Meg: CRAP!! 


	4. Oracle

[Ahem] Here's chapter 4. Unfortunately, because Meg made the stupid mistake of claiming Miroku to be hers (see last chapter's disclaimer), she is now in the middle of impending lawsuit. . .  
  
offstage WHAM!! Meg walks out  
  
Meg: I'm ready!  
  
Kat: But where're all the lawyers?  
  
Meg: Uh . . . tries to hide mallet behind her back  
  
groaning is heard backstage  
  
Kat=--  
  
Kat: Meg, what did we say about not killing lawyers? Killing meaning: ending in death, maiming, severely scarring the individual. . .  
  
Akkiko: Shut up, Katsup, and get on with the chapter!  
  
FINE!! stupid sadistic, homicidal-happy friends that harass me at all hours!  
  
Okaeri Nasai  
  
Chapter 4: Oracle  
  
"Tell me," Kameko Haru said. "How is it you first came to be in Japan?"  
  
The oracle was still sitting under the tree; Meg, Kat and Akkiko were sitting Indian-style in front of her. Behind them were Sango, Miroku, Inu- yasha, Kagome and Shippo. Meg had her arms crossed over her chest, her expression dubious and bored. Kat looked curious, confused and interested at the entrance of the mysterious woman. Akkiko's eyes were narrowed cautiously, still wary of anything Kameko said.  
  
"Well," Kat said. "We came here on a student-exchange program."  
  
"And how were you chosen for this program?" Kameko asked.  
  
Akkiko took this question. "The principal at our school in Canada decided that it would be us three because it was the quickest way to get us out of the country."  
  
"Were you really that bad?" Kagome asked.  
  
"After placing two substitutes and one gym teacher in the mental institution, yeah, I would say we were that bad." Akkiko laughed maniacally.  
  
"Akkiko, don't fib," Kat said.  
  
"Yeah," Meg drawled. "It was only one sub we put in the mental institution."  
  
"And I don't think the biology teacher appreciated us smuggling those frogs into the cafeteria," Kat added.  
  
"They we still alive!" Akkiko said indignantly. "And much as I love hacking things up in a dissection, those froggies had to be liberated!"  
  
"Oh my god," Meg said solemnly. "Did Akkiko just say 'froggies'?"  
  
"Yep," Kat put in.  
  
"THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END!!" Meg shrieked, head in hands.  
  
Everyone sweatdropped. "Ahem, well, it isn't simply coincidence that you came to Japan," Kameko Haru said.  
  
"Let me guess," Meg said, recovering, "We were preordained thousands of years ago to come to some holy place and call up ancient spirits from the Great Beyond so we can save the world."  
  
Kameko continued smiling. "I'm not sure about 'spirits from the great beyond', but the rest of what you say is pretty much true."  
  
Meg fell over. "You're kidding right?" she said. Kat watched her friend's tail swing back and forth.  
  
"Question!" she said. "Why did Meg's body grow...extra appendages, if you will?"  
  
"I will get to that," Kameko said. "But first I must make one thing very clear: it was not by coincidence you three girls are able to travel through the Bone-Eater's well. It is because where you were originally born."  
  
"Eh?" the three girls said at the same time.  
  
Kameko laughed. "Many years ago there were three children born in three families: one was born to a cursed human family, another to a youkai family, and a third to a family of youkai hunters."  
  
Someone made a noise behind the girls: Miroku, who was quickly hushed by Sango.  
  
"These three children were safe within their mothers' wombs, but the Gods decided that their lives would be better suited for another time. . .the children's souls were taken from their bodies, and they were born dead, for without a soul a body cannot live for long."  
  
"Are you saying . . . ?" Kat was in shock, and could not continue.  
  
Kameko Haru nodded. "Yes. You three were those children."  
  
Meg blinked. "And the families—"  
  
"Your siblings are here in this clearing." The oracle stood, and went over to Shippo. "Little kitsune, did your parents ever speak of another child?"  
  
Shippo blinked and thought for a moment. "I once asked Mom and Dad if I could have a brother or sister, and Mom became really sad. Dad told me that I had an older sister, but she hadn't survived birth." He grinned. "I asked that right after I asked where babies came from, so I knew what 'birth' meant."  
  
Kameko patted his head. "Well, kitsune, meet your sister." She pointed to Meg.  
  
Meg's jaw dropped. "What? No way! Although I guess that explains why I have a tail. . ." She wagged it thoughtfully.  
  
Kameko nodded. "You are the child of the youkai family. When you came through the well, the demon in your blood sensed that you were back in your true home, and so you were changed back to what would have been your original form, had you survived."  
  
Shippo hopped up to Meg. "So . . . you're my sister?" He looked her up and down. "Can you protect me from him?" He pointed to Inu-yasha, who growled. "He's always hitting me."  
  
Meg bared her fangs in a grin. "Next time he does that, you just tell me and I'll break his hand off."  
  
Shippo beamed. "Okay!" He stuck his tongue out at Inu-yasha as he hugged Meg.  
  
"Monk," Kameko said. "Is it true that you are not the only child of your family?"  
  
Miroku sighed and shook his head. "A few years after my birth, my mother became pregnant again. During the birthing there were difficulties, and I was told that my baby sister did not survive."  
  
Kameko shook her head, her smile never fading. "No, my dear monk, your sister did survive . . . it simply took her a few centuries to find a body." She gestured at Akkiko.  
  
Akkiko blanched. "So you were serious when you said I had been groped by my brother?"  
  
Miroku also blanched. "Oh Buddha," he muttered, crouching in a corner of the clearing. "Please forgive the sin I have committed. . ."  
  
"Yeah, hitting on your sister?" Kat muttered. "How icky."  
  
"IT WAS UNINTENTIONAL!!" Miroku and Akkiko said at the same time, and then glared at each other.  
  
"Yes, I would definitely say siblings," Kameko laughed.  
  
"So I guess that means I'm not going to get a tail or any other demon-esque things," Akkiko said, slightly put out. "I mean, Miroku is all human, right?"  
  
"That isn't exactly true," Kameko said. "You see, the monk's family was cursed by a powerful demon fifty years ago. When someone is cursed, a residue of the person who performed the curse remains in the person who was cursed."  
  
"So you're saying the residue of the demon who cursed Miroku's family is now in me?" Akkiko asked dubiously, then she brightened. "Cool! Does that mean I get pointy ears?"  
  
Kameko sweatdropped. "I'm not sure. You are only half-demon, a hanyou, because of your human parentage. But I am sure your powers will show themselves in time."  
  
"That's reassuring," Meg muttered.  
  
"Um, Miss Oracle?" Kat said, a little shy. "What about me? Who's my sibling?"  
  
"That would the demon exterminator," Kameko said, gesturing to Sango. Sango stood, and walked up to Kat, looking her over.  
  
"After I was born, my family wanted to have another child, so that I would not be lonely. There was a little girl, I remember, but she did not survive. It was after that that my brother, Kohaku, was born."  
  
"And I suppose I'm really all-human," Kat said, smiling a little. "I wouldn't think demon exterminators have any demon in their blood."  
  
"Wrong again," Kameko sang. "It is another thread in the pattern you three have woven. It is through your bond, Katherine, that you have established with your friends that you have your own youkai powers."  
  
"Bond?" Meg and Akkiko looked at each other.  
  
flashback  
  
"Did . . . did you just feel that?" Meg asked hesitantly.  
  
"It felt . . . It felt like I was underwater." Akkiko said.  
  
"I felt something grabbing the back of my shirt."  
  
end  
  
"Ah. I guess that's cool," Kat said. "But another thing: how did we get here? To the feudal age, I mean."  
  
"Your rings," Kameko said simply.  
  
"These?" Akkiko said, looking at the three metal bands that were intertwined on her finger. "How does that work? We don't even know who sent them."  
  
"I did," Kameko said. Akkiko smacked her forehead.  
  
"Should have seen that one coming," she muttered.  
  
"Each one of your rings has a small piece of the Shikon no Tama within them," Kameko continued, and Kagome took a sharp intake of breath.  
  
"That explains it," she said. "Anyone with jewel shards can travel through the well, can't they?"  
  
"Correct," the oracle nodded. "It is because of their bond with the past. But it is also because of your souls that you are able to travel through time." She nodded to Meg, Kat and Akkiko, who were now all looking at their rings. "It is here that your souls are most suited—this place, this time, is home to them." Kameko bowed. "Are there any questions?"  
  
The three girls stared at each other, then said at the same time: "HUDDLE!"  
  
They crossed the clearing and huddled up, talking in fast whispers.  
  
"Is this really happening?" Kat asked.  
  
"We could have hit our heads coming down the well and been knocked unconscious," Meg said.  
  
"If we hit our head, I think we would be dead," Akkiko put in, "And if this is Hell, it has a warped sense of humour."  
  
"Who says we're going to hell?" Meg said.  
  
"That's besides the point people!" Kat said. "Okay, let's go on the hypothetical notion that this is real, and isn't a warped dream or . . . Hell. Why us? What can we do that they—" She gestured to Kagome and the others "—can't do better?"  
  
"You know," Akkiko said. "It's kind of like Magic Knight Rayearth: three girls are transported to another world so they can save everyone."  
  
"And in the manga there's an all-knowing guru that helps the girls along the way!" Kat said, and all three turned to look at Kameko.  
  
"We have a question!" Meg said. Kameko turned and smiled. "What exactly are we supposed to do here, besides save the world?"  
  
Kameko reached into a sleeve of her robe and brought out the glass ball full of red smoke the group had seen earlier. "This sphere is an early- warning system for happenings in this time. When the smoke is blue, there is peace; when grey, there is war approaching; and when the smoke is red, it means that evil forces are stirring up something big."  
  
Inu-yasha muttered something. "What was that?" Kagome prodded.  
  
"I said, 'Naraku'," Inu-yasha spat. "That bastard is probably going to pull another one of his half-baked ideas." He 'harrumphed' and crossed his arms. "We don't need three little girls to help us with that."  
  
At this point Kat had to stop both Akkiko AND Meg from killing the oblivious hanyou.  
  
Kameko shook her head. "As I said earlier, hanyou, these girls are very important. You will not be able to win this battle without them. Naraku has resurrected Kaguya."  
  
Miroku choked. "That's not possible! I disposed of that witch through my kazaana."  
  
Kameko looked at him, her smile fading for the first time. "Naraku retrieved her from the world that goes beyond your kazaana. He also brought Kanna and Kagura back."  
  
"You know all this?" Kagome said. Kameko Haru nodded.  
  
"I have seen it," she said. "It happened a week ago. But Naraku's plan does not stop there. He is planning something else—"  
  
"Time OUT!" Meg said, getting annoyed. "Who the hell are all these people?"  
  
Kameko chucked. "Do not worry, kitsune. You will meet them all presently. Have you any other questions."  
  
"I do!" Akkiko said. "Usually when humans are transported to another time, they receive special gifts: armour, weapons, stuff like that. You have anything for us?"  
  
Kameko blinked, and thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose I could each give you something of use. Especially for you and Kat, since you haven't developed any signs of your demon blood." She walked up to Kat, and reached into the sleeve of her kimono. She drew out a feather and several stripes of paper.  
  
Kat stared. "What good can a feather and some ofuda do?" she asked.  
  
Kameko also handed her a brush and some ink. "Your own power will be transferred into the paper. When thrown, whatever is written on the scroll will materialize."  
  
Meg perked up. "Hey, Kat! Write 'Johnny Depp' on one and let's see if it works."  
  
Kat sweatdropped. "In your dreams, Meg." Meg pouted.  
  
Interruption  
  
Meg: OH, pleeeeeeeease, Kat?  
  
Kat: I said NO!! runs away from Meg, ofuda clutched to her chest  
  
Akkiko: Hee hee! The keyboard is mine!  
  
Computer: Foreign material targeted. Prepare to be vaporized.  
  
Akkiko: EEP! dodges away from the computer  
  
Kat: I'm glad I installed that security system continues typing  
  
end  
  
"I will also give you the power of a weapon . . . do you mind a spear?" Kat shook her head and Kameko held up her hand. A ball of light appeared, and within it was a tiny spear. Kameko touched the ball of light to Kat's necklace. The glow disappeared, and Kameko smiled. "The feather will activate when you say a single word," Kameko continued. "And I believe you'll like the results."  
  
"What's the word?" Kat asked.  
  
"You will know," the oracle assured. "Just know to use it when there is no way out but up."  
  
"Huh?" Kat was perplexed, but the woman had moved on to Akkiko.  
  
"Here you are," the oracle said, and held out a pouch. Akkiko opened it.  
  
"Rocks?" she said flatly. "You gave me rocks?"  
  
"It goes with this," Kameko handed her a slingshot.  
  
"Sweet!" Akkiko said, "I get a slingshot!" She cradled it, a very scary look on her face.  
  
"I am officially freaked out now," Meg muttered.  
  
"Hold out your hands," Kameko instructed. Akkiko did so, and the oracle held her hands over the wrists Akkiko's fingerless gloves. Two balls of light issued from her palms, and within the spheres were miniature twin swords. They disappeared into the gloves. Akkiko blinked and looked up at Kameko as she reached into her sleeves and drew out a necklace.  
  
"You aren't very feminine, but this necklace could still come in handy," she said.  
  
"Whaddaya mean I'm not feminine?" Akkiko snapped, grabbed the necklace, and put it on. She looked down at the pendant; it was a pair of silver wings. "Eew . . . it's, like . . . girly."  
  
"My point," Kameko laughed, and moved on to Meg. "To you, I give this," she said, and held out a scrunchie.  
  
Meg stared. "I already have one, though," she said, holding up the end of her braid.  
  
Kameko smiled. "I know that, but throw it into the air."  
  
Meg took the scrunchie, and threw it up apathetically. whoosh  
  
"ACK!!" Meg yelped as something cushy and soft flew under her. "What the beep?"  
  
"Meg!" Kat said. "What did I say about language? And were the hell did that cloud come from?"  
  
The group was now staring at Meg, who was floating several feet from the ground on a fluffy light-blue cloud.  
  
"This is the kumo," Kameko explained. "It was spelled into the hair-tie so that when it is thrown into the air, it is activated." [A/N: FYI, 'Kumo' is 'cloud' in Japanese]  
  
Kameko Haru also gave Meg several littler gifts for the illusionary abilities all kitsune have: a leaf, a top, and the like. Lastly, she gave her a quiver of arrows in a ball of light, which she infused into the bracelets on her wrists, and a bow, in another ball of light, and infused them into her extra hair tie.  
  
"And that is all I can give you for now," the oracle said at last. "My job is finished. Have you any other questions before I leave?"  
  
Meg, Kat, and Akkiko all looked at each other. ". . . I don't think so," Kat said at last. All three were still looking slightly bewildered.  
  
Kameko bowed again, and retreated further into the shadows of the trees. "Then I bid you sayonara. Oh, and another thing—" She flashed the girls a bright smile. "Okaeri nasai."  
  
And then she was gone.  
  
The three girls stared at the spot were the oracle had been. Then they smiled at each other, each thinking the same thing.  
  
Welcome home . . .  
  
After the oracle left, the Inu-yasha gang was growing accustomed to the three girls' presence. The newly-found siblings were also adjusting. . .  
  
"Stay away from me," Akkiko said.  
  
"I'm not going to grope you again!" Miroku said. "I just want to get to know you . . . after all, you are my little sister."  
  
"Yeah, maybe, but you still groped me, you sicko."  
  
"I didn't KNOW you were my sister!"  
  
"That doesn't make a difference!"  
  
So, Miroku and Akkiko were getting along. . .  
  
. . . Shippo was showing Meg how to use the gifts Kameko Haru had given her . . .  
  
. . . And Sango was having issues about Kat's (average, but still quite short for a girl her age) height.  
  
"I don't get it . . . you're so . . . short."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean!?"  
  
Meg leaned towards Inu-yasha and Kagome. "Kat's touchy about the height- thing."  
  
"All I mean is height helps you be a better fighter. I mean, you're shorter than Kagome!"  
  
"Only by, like, a quarter of an inch! And besides, Akkiko's gotten into more fights than Meg and I together—and won every single one of them—and she's shorter than me!"  
  
"Leave me out of this," Akkiko snapped.  
  
Kat stomped off, but her departure was made less graceful by tripping over the Hiraikotsu. She growled, picked up the giant boomerang and threw it without really thinking about what she was doing. It WHAM!! hit Miroku in the back of the head and he fell to the ground without a word, unconscious.  
  
Meg stared at Miroku for a second. "You hit my bishie!"  
  
"You hit my brother!" Akkiko said, outraged.  
  
Inu-yasha looked at Miroku, then at Hiraikotsu, then at Kat. "Hey Kagome," he said. "How come she's shorter but you're weaker?  
  
"OSUWARI!!" Inu-yasha meet floor, floor meet Inu-yasha [A/N: That's Akkiko's line, thanx going out to her for letting me borrow it]  
  
Miroku groggily sat up. He pointed in Kat's general direction. "Absolutely, without a doubt . . . related to Sango." He collapsed again.  
  
Once they revived Miroku, Kagome sighed.  
  
"Now what?"  
  
Akkiko, Kat and Meg looked at each other. "Now we . . . follow our destiny?" Meg suggested, flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking to the centre of the clearing.  
  
"We can't just sit on our butts and wait for the end of the world to come. So, we need to get going."  
  
"Get going where?" Akkiko asked flatly.  
  
"I don't know," Meg said calmly. "But like I said, we are NOT just sitting around."  
  
Sango blinked and turned to Kat and Akkiko. "Are you sure she's related to Shippo? I mean, she seems so . . . collected."  
  
"Oh, wait until you get her on coffee. Or," Akkiko turned to Meg. "Hey, Megan!"  
  
Meg immediately turned on Akkiko with a less-than-happy expression.  
  
Kat sweatdropped. "She's touchy about the Megan."  
  
"AKKIKO!!"  
  
"EEP!!" In the background, Meg chased Akkiko, throwing her scrunchie into the air. The kumo fluttered around her, lifting her off the ground. It brought Meg above the running Akkiko, and suddenly—  
  
BOOM!! Akkiko coughed, now covered with black soot.  
  
Meg stared. "Whoa," she said. "This thing comes with lightening bolts!" Enter evil grin.  
  
Kat sweatdropped. "Uh, Meg, I think it's time for us to go home!"  
  
"Gimme a sec!" Meg flew off. . .  
  
Akkiko turned to Kat and coughed. "I think she just got a whole lot more freaky."  
  
"Uh . . . yeah?" Kat turned to Akkiko. "Oh, by the way, Akkiko, thanks for saving me," she said.  
  
Akkiko looked up. "Oh . . . yeah . . . actually, I was more after the bishie with the tail. Any rescuing was purely coincidental."  
  
Kat developed a twitching vein in her temple and smacked the poor half- demon-thing.  
  
Meg flew over and jumped gracefully to the ground. The kumo transformed back into her scrunchie and she tied her hair back. "Okay, let's go!"  
  
Kagome popped up. "Where's Inu-yasha?"  
  
"Over there," Meg said, an evil smirk on her face. She pointed across the clearing at the twitching ash heap.  
  
"MEG!" Kat and Akkiko both smacked her. "Don't hurt innocent people!"  
  
Miroku coughed. "I wouldn't exactly call Inu-yasha 'innocent'."  
  
The four girls congregated around the well.  
  
"We'll be back tomorrow," Kagome said to Miroku, Shippo and Sango. "Akkiko, Meg and Kat will stay over at my house tonight and we should be back early in the morning."  
  
Miroku nodded. "All right, see you soon. We'll be waiting at Kaede's." He bowed to Akkiko. "See you tomorrow, imouto-san."  
  
Akkiko brought out her slingshot. "Just a warning in case I forget tomorrow: If you hit on me, Meg or Kat anymore, I'll shoot a rock at you."  
  
Miroku nodded. "Fine!"  
  
Sango tugged his ponytail. "Oh no, if you hit on my sister, you get a Hiraikotsu in the face."  
  
Miroku gulped, "EEP!"  
  
"WHERE'S THE WENCH?!" Inu-yasha stumbled out of forest, still smudged with soot.  
  
Miroku sighed. "Kagome's right here." He pointed.  
  
Inu-yasha glared. "Not THAT wench! THAT wench!" He shook his fist at Meg.  
  
Meg sweatdropped. "Erm. . . Bye!" She grabbed Kat's arm and jumped into the well. Kat yelped and grabbed the back of Akkiko's shirt. Akkiko sighed and grabbed Kagome's arm. The four school girls fell through the well and a flash of light appeared.  
  
Kat, Akkiko and Meg floated in sub space and then settled onto the firm packed earth of the bottom of the well in the mini shrine. Kagome started climbing the ladder attached to the side.  
  
"Come on," she said, "time to call your house-parents to see if you can stay the night."  
  
Meg was feeling her hairline. "Hey! My ears are gone!" She twisted behind her. "And my tail is gone too!"  
  
Akkiko crouched in the corner. "Hey, Kat," she said, "Here's your textbook!"  
  
Kat growled, grabbed it, and hit Meg and Akkiko both on the head.  
  
"OW! What was that for?"  
  
"Akkiko, you were hit because you stole the book in the first place. Meg, you were hit because you threw it down the well and got us landed in this whole mess." Kat then hugged them and started climbing. Meg and Akkiko glared.  
  
"So you hit us and then you hug us? What's up with that?"  
  
Kat stuck her tongue out at them. "The hugs were for landing us in this mess!" She laughed, and the two girls looked at each other and started climbing up the ladder.  
  
# # #  
  
YEAH!! Another chapter finished!  
  
Meg: Yes, and you will continue with the next one, or else I'll send lightening bolts! sits on kumo  
  
Akkiko: Yes, and I'll hit you with my slingshot!  
  
Kat: snaps fingers, weapons disappear  
  
Meg and Akkiko: HEY!!  
  
Kat: Until next time! begins running away from homicidal friends  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-yasha, so please, leave me alone.  
  
Lawyers: No! We'll never leave you alone! BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!  
  
Kat: snaps fingers again  
  
lawyers fall through trap door 


	5. Hyper

Erm . . . no special comments for now, just a warning:  
  
Much of this based on real life incidences. Please don't be afraid. Please don't hurt us—  
  
Meg: Please don't take away my coffee!!!  
  
Kat and Akkiko=--;;  
  
Okaeri Nasai  
  
Chapter 5—Hyper  
  
That night at supper, Kagome explained the whole story to the exchange students: how she had first fallen down the well, how she had met Inu-yasha and the others, and how she was a reincarnation of a priestess who had been brought back to life anyways.  
  
"Huh?" the three had said at the same time.  
  
"Never mind," Kagome said, smiling and sweatdropping.  
  
She had gone on to tell of the quest to look for the Shikon no Tama, the Jewel of Four Souls, which she had inadvertently shattered on her first visit to the Feudal Era.  
  
"So now the only question is, how did they get into our rings?" Meg asked, fingering hers on its chain.  
  
"I have absolutely no idea," Kagome said, shrugging. "Obviously it's not some of the shards we've collected so far." She held up the little vial around her neck that held the shards.  
  
"Uh, Kagome?" Akkiko said nervously. "Are you sure you should be saying all this in front of your family?" The four girls looked to where Mrs. Higurashi, Sota and Grandfather were eating dinner calmly.  
  
"Oh, they know," Kagome said. "I couldn't miss so much school and have them NOT know."  
  
"That reminds me Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi said, "How is your dog-eared friend?"  
  
Sota perked up. "Yeah, how is Inu-yasha? Is he coming for a visit soon?"  
  
Kagome sweatdropped. "I hope not."  
  
"Maybe he'll show up to get revenge on Meg," Kat teased.  
  
"Whatever," Meg said, slurping up some noodles. "Let that puppy-eared mutt come and get me whenever."  
  
"I'm sure Akkiko wouldn't mind that," Kat said with a sly look at her friend.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Akkiko said, going red.  
  
"You're blushing, Akkiko," Kagome said, laughing.  
  
"Shut it."  
  
---  
  
Later, Meg, Akkiko and Kat sat down in Kagome's room.  
  
"Wow, I can't believe that we can actually go back in time!" Meg squealed. "This is so cool!"  
  
"Maybe we can send a car through the well," Akkiko said thoughtfully. "We could totally freak out the villagers."  
  
Kat blinked at her. "And I am assuming you'll be driving."  
  
Akkiko nodded. "Of course!"  
  
Meg and Kat looked at each other. "NO!"  
  
Akkiko pouted. "Why not?"  
  
Her friends stared at her, eyebrows raised.  
  
"Point taken!" she shrieked, grabbing a pillow off of Kagome's bed and chucking it at them. Kagome came into the room, carrying a tray of popcorn, chips and soda.  
  
"Ooh! Food!" Meg grinned, grabbing the bowl of chips.  
  
Kagome grinned as they settled down in front of her TV and started watching a movie. As the opening credits started rolling, Kagome asked, "So it's no problem for you guys to spend the weekend here, right?"  
  
Akkiko shook her head. "Mr and Mrs Midori are pleased. They say the neighbours are getting creeped out that I sleep in the tree outside Eri's window."  
  
Kat stretched. "It's such a relief to not have to put up with Yuka's parents. Honestly, they're so chatty! I was going insane!"  
  
Akkiko snorted. "Like you had any sanity before this." Insert Kat's glare.  
  
Meg grimaced. "Mrs. Haru said it's fine if I stay over here as long as I get my homework done!" Groaning, she flopped down on the floor. "Let's just say they're not too happy with my marks right now."  
  
Akkiko blinked. "But we haven't even gotten our first report card yet!"  
  
Meg glared at her. "Is that supposed to make a difference? I think they hack the school's computer system."  
  
Everyone laughed, but Akkiko stopped suddenly.  
  
"What's wrong?" Kat asked.  
  
"I just realized something," Akkiko said. "I'M STILL IN THIS -BEEP-IN' SKIRT!" She jumped up and grabbed Kat and Meg's arms, pulling them up with her. "Everybody out! I'm changing! Right now! No calm, quiet exits—I mean pushing and shoving and falling over the person in front of you!!"  
  
Kagome, Kat and Meg were left staring at a closed door as Akkiko slammed it.  
  
"Wow," Kagome said, blinking. "She must really hate that outfit."  
  
Meg and Kat blinked at each other. "No shit."  
  
---  
  
In the mini-shrine, Inu-yasha climbed out of the well.  
  
"I don't care what Miroku said," he growled. "Those wenches may be coming back tomorrow, but I'm not waiting." And, with plans at getting back at Meg fluttering around in his head, he rushed out of the mini-shrine and across the yard.  
  
He leapt up into the tree outside Kagome's window [A/N: If there isn't really a tree outside Kagome's window, let's just say we randomly planted one and it magically grew overnight] and peered inside. He saw someone moving around . . . but it wasn't Kagome . . . it was that Akkiko-chick. . .and she was—  
  
"OH, SHIT!!" he yelped, and jumped backward, away from the window. Unfortunately, not being the sharpest knife in the drawer, he sort of forgot he was in tree.  
  
-CRASH!!-  
  
"What was that!?" Kagome said, as she, Meg and Kat ran outside. There was Inu-yasha, face down in the dirt, underneath the tree.  
  
Meg looked at him, then at the tree, then at the window, and her thoughts clicked.  
  
Akkiko turned around at the crash, slipping on a T-shirt overtop her shorts. Opening Kagome's window, she looked out, only to hear:  
  
"You pervert! You goddamn peeping tom! I oughta poke your goddamn eyes out! Take THAT! AND THAT!! AND THAT!!!!"  
  
Akkiko called down to Kat, "Why is Meg chasing Inu-yasha around with a frying pan?"  
  
Kat sighed. "Never mind, never mind!"  
  
Five minutes later, Inu-yasha was pushed through the well by a sweatdropping Kagome; he nursed several bumps on the head. Meg was tied to a tree, glaring, and was guarded by Kat, who was trying to fill Akkiko in on why exactly Inu-yasha had been put through death-by-frying pan.  
  
"That jerk deserved it!" Meg shrieked indignantly. "I mean, he saw my little sister naked, for god's sakes!"  
  
"We'll never know that," Kat snapped. "You hit him so hard he has amnesia now!"  
  
"Yeah, Meg," Akkiko scolded. "You didn't have to be so brutal!"  
  
"I wasn't that bad!" Meg protested.  
  
"When he finally came around, all he could say at first was, 'I like fluffy bunnies'," Kat said in monotone.  
  
Something clicked in Meg's brain. "Hey, Akkiko, why aren't you disturbed by this?"  
  
Akkiko shrugged. Kat noticed her blushing.  
  
Meg's eyes went very wide. "OH MY GOD!! You wanted him to see you naked!"  
  
Akkiko went red. "No! I didn't—I mean—ack!"  
  
Meg wrenched through her bonds and grabbed Akkiko, dragging her off for a little 'heart-to-heart'.  
  
"I mean—I'm just not bothered by it!—er—"  
  
"You should quit while you're ahead," Kat said, sweatdropping.  
  
Meg was on the verge of a hysterical freak-out. Scratch that, she had already gone way beyond—by several meters, in fact.  
  
Akkiko dug her heels into the ground, glaring. "Hey, I saw the way you were looking at Miroku—I bet you wouldn't mind HIM seeing you naked."  
  
Meg flushed. "What?! How can you—I wouldn't ever—I mean—"  
  
Kagome sighed. "You two are so weird."  
  
"Hey!" Kat said. "What am I, chopped liver?"  
  
Meg and Akkiko looked at each other. "Yes, Kat—you are ch—ack!"  
  
"SHADDUP!" Kat said, throwing chopsticks at them. They buried themselves in the tree so hard the bark cracked.  
  
A few seconds passed in eerie silence, and Kagome started laughing. The others looked at her, and then laughed themselves.  
  
"I'm hungry!" Meg said. "Let's go pig out on popcorn!"  
  
"Works for me," Akkiko said. "But seriously, Meg, you can't exactly say Inu- yasha isn't hot."  
  
"I'll admit the puppy boy is cute," Meg said, "But he ain't got nothing on the monk."  
  
"Hey, Meg?" Kat said sweetly. "You're drooling."  
  
"DIE!"  
  
"EEK!"  
  
"Meg, don't kill innocent people!"  
  
"She's innocent?"  
  
"Stop it, you three!"  
  
---  
  
(The next day)  
  
"Uhhhhh. . ."  
  
"AAAHHH! It's attack of the zombie Meg! And her evil accomplice, zombie Akkiko!!"  
  
"Shut up, Kat," Akkiko mumbled, sitting at the kitchen table and laying her head on it.  
  
"Why are you two so dead?" Kagome asked, making breakfast.  
  
"They were up all night arguing who was cuter, Inu-yasha or Miroku," Kat said, grinning. "They finally fell asleep at four am."  
  
"And now it is . . . six am!" Kagome said brightly. "Here, maybe this will wake you up." She handed Meg a mug of something. She took a slug of it. Kat and Akkiko paled.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Coffee."  
  
Akkiko patted Kagome's shoulder. "Kagome, back at our school in Canada there was a guy who thought all woman were weak, except three. You just gave liquid caffeine to one of them!"  
  
Kat shook her head. "What do you have to say for yourself?"  
  
Kagome blinked. "Um . . . oops?"  
  
---  
  
It took about two and a half hours to get Meg out of her coffee-high.  
  
"Before we go back to the Feudal Age, we should probably get our homework done," Kagome said; her tone indicated she wasn't thrilled about it.  
  
"Yeah, sure," Meg said, "after all, it's only Saturday."  
  
"Sarcasm noted," Kat said, bringing out her textbooks. Soon Meg, Kat and Kagome had their books spread out over table.  
  
"Akkiko, where's your homework?" Kagome asked. The black-haired girl was sitting at the table, looking bored, with no books in front of her.  
  
"What? What's homework?"  
  
"You know, those sheets of paper the teachers hand out at the end of class that you work on at home—hence, homework."  
  
"Oh!" The expression on Akkiko's face was one of enlightenment. "You mean that thing my teacher assigned me yesterday?" She was met with three nods. "Oh, I haven't been doing that for the past week."  
  
Kagome and Meg sweatdropped at her. Kat grabbed Akkiko's backpack. "Then why does your backpack feel so heavy? I mean, it's like you're carrying a couple of six packs in here—" The bag fell open.  
  
-clunk- -clunk- -clunk-  
  
Meg and Kat glared at Akkiko. "Scratch that," Kat said. "THREE six packs—of ICED TEA!!"  
  
Akkiko's thoughts at this moment: 'SHIT!!'  
  
"Ah!" Akkiko sweatdropped and tried to look innocent (failing miserably, I might add). "How did those get in there?"  
  
"How the hell did you sneak this past airport security?" Meg burst out.  
  
"With great trouble," Akkiko said brightly.  
  
Kat put the six packs back into the backpack. "So THIS is why you didn't have your homework with you?"  
  
"Pretty much," Akkiko said, "I thought it was best to carry only the important stuff."  
  
"What's this?" Kat asked, lifting up a clump of hair tied with a ribbon.  
  
Meg stared at it. "Hey, Kagome," she said. "Who has black hair in the feudal era other than you, Miroku and Sango?"  
  
Kagome thought and blinked. "Kouga?!"  
  
"Crap," Akkiko mumbled under her breath.  
  
"When did you get close enough to him to get his hair?" Meg asked, flames sprouting up behind her.  
  
Akkiko sweatdropped. "Erm, well, they were all over Kat's uniform. . ."  
  
Meg turned on Kat. "And WHY were they on your uniform?"  
  
It was Kat's turn to sweatdrop. "Well, he kind of . . . er . . . was holding onto me. . ."  
  
Meg's face went very ugly indeed. "Dead wolf walking."  
  
Everyone sweatdropped. "That reminds me," Kat said, trying to get Meg's head off of homicidal thoughts, "what exactly did you do to Kouga?"  
  
"That . . . is a secret!" Meg said brightly.  
  
"Ah . . . right." Kat hefted Akkiko's backpack onto her shoulder. "I'll be right back!" She ran out of the kitchen, out the door, and across the yard.  
  
"So what's the big deal with the iced tea?" Kagome asked.  
  
"Let's just say Akkiko on iced tea is like me on coffee—only times by ten." Meg shuddered. So did Kagome. Akkiko merely grinned.  
  
---  
  
Kat leapt into the well in the mini-shrine. After several minutes of floating and sparklies everywhere, she set down in the Feudal Age well, and climbed out. Looking across the clearing, she saw Miroku.  
  
"Miroku!" Kat called, running across to him. She thrust the backpack into his arms. "Keep that with you!" She ran off.  
  
Five seconds later she ran back. "Guard it with your life!" She ran away, but five seconds later she was back.  
  
"Oh yeah, whatever you do, don't open the bag!" Ran off. . .  
  
Five seconds later: "Oh yeah, do NOT give it to Akkiko!"  
  
Ran off, five seconds later: "Oh yeah, um, thanks!" She ran away again.  
  
Miroku blinked. "Girls from the future sure are strange," he said, shaking his head.  
  
Kat popped back through the well, meeting Meg at the back door.  
  
"So where'd you stash the stuff?" Meg whispered.  
  
"Not telling." Kat replied.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Tell me what you did to Kouga."  
  
"No."  
  
"Then I'm not telling you where I hid Akkiko's iced tea."  
  
". . . Grr."  
  
Akkiko popped up between them. "OH THE HUMANITY!! THEY STOLE MY ICED TEA!!!"  
  
Kat and Meg= --;;  
  
---  
  
About half an hour later, Kagome, Kat, Akkiko, and Meg finally travelled through the well. Enter sparkles, etc, etc.  
  
"Where the hell have you four been?" Inu-yasha demanded as they emerged.  
  
Meg glared. "We've been working. That's all you need to know, puppy boy."  
  
Inu-yasha glared back. Akkiko popped up between them. "If you two are going to have glaring matches every single –BEEP-in' time you meet, I want to go home."  
  
Kat sweatdropped. "You seem a little tense, Akkiko."  
  
"YOU TOOK AWAY MY ICED TEA!!"  
  
Kat rubbed her ear. "Ow." Miroku sidled off somewhere. Akkiko saw him do this, and followed him.  
  
"Where are YOU going off to?" She asked. He stopped suddenly, and turned, looking guilty.  
  
"Uh . . . I was just going to . . . ah. . . .Eep!"  
  
"Kat came here, didn't she?" Akkiko asked, grabbing the front of his robes and dragging him down several inches. "She gave you a backpack, didn't she?"  
  
Miroku sweatdropped. "Er. . ."  
  
"Give it to me!" Akkiko demanded, a very scary look on her face. What could poor Miroku do but what he did?  
  
Akkiko grabbed the backpack with a squeal and began chugging iced tea. Miroku sweatdropped.  
  
ten minutes later  
  
Akkiko was bouncing off the . . . trees. Kat and Meg watched her, and then looked at each other. They glared at the Inu-yasha gang.  
  
"Who gave Akkiko ICED TEA??" they asked dangerously.  
  
Miroku shifted guiltily. "Um . . . that would be me!" He said brightly.  
  
Kat and Meg loomed over him scarily. "YOU FOOL!!" They screamed.  
  
"Why are you wenches getting so worked up?" Inu-yasha asked, arms crossed.  
  
"You don't understand!" Meg screeched.  
  
"Yeah," Kat said, looking very worried. "You don't know what kind of things Akkiko does when she's hyper!"  
  
"Like that?" Kagome asked, and pointed as Akkiko bounced up to Miroku, an open can of iced tea in her hand. She grabbed her brother in a head-lock, and force-fed him the over-sugary drink.  
  
"Oh, crap. . ." Kat said, smacking her forehead.  
  
"You don't think it runs in the family, do you . . ." Meg trailed off as Miroku and Akkiko continued bouncing off the trees.  
  
"Something tells me it does . . ." Kat said. Meg began beating her head against a tree.  
  
"What's this?" Inu-yasha asked. He was rummaging through Meg's bag.  
  
"ACK!" Meg shrieked, and threw herself defensively at Inu-yasha. "Don't touch that!"  
  
"I was looking for my noodles!" he snapped, and held up a package. "Now what is this?"  
  
Kat's eyes went wide. "Meg, that isn't a package of instant coffee, is it?"  
  
Meg shifted. "Uh. . .no!" Her backpack fell open, and a thermos fell out, followed by a package of sugar complete with a spoon taped on, and some packets of cream they serve in restaurants.  
  
Kagome and Kat glared. Meg sweatdropped. Shippo, Sango and Inu-yasha blinked cluelessly. Akkiko and Miroku went "Whee!" as they continued their hyper rampage.  
  
"Ah. . ." Meg reached down, grabbing the fallen condiments in one fell swoop, then raced to Inu-yasha, knocking him over as she grabbed her precious package of coffee. Then -bounce- she leapt into a tree. Five seconds later. . .  
  
Meg joined Miroku and Akkiko in their various hyper activities. The others sweatdropped.  
  
"Freaky wench," Inu-yasha said, slurping on some ramen Kagome had cooked up for him.  
  
"How do you put up with those two?" Sango asked Kat.  
  
"The same way you put up with Miroku and his lecherous ways," her sister replied calmly.  
  
Shippo shuffled away. . . "Shippo, give up the coffee," Kagome said.  
  
"Damn!" the little kitsune said, and put down the thermos of instant coffee Meg had left lying around.  
  
Kat twitched as she turned and saw Meg reach into her backpack and bring out a roll of duck tape. "SHIT!" she said, and ran over.  
  
Inu-yasha blinked, then went back to his ramen. Suddenly his ears twitched.  
  
"Kagome," he said seriously. "Get your bow."  
  
"What? Why?" she asked.  
  
Inu-yasha didn't answer; he unsheathed Tetsuiga and turned.  
  
Kat wrestled the duck tape away from Meg and looked at Inu-yasha. "What's the issue?" she asked and her jaw dropped open.  
  
Meg, Akkiko and Miroku came out of hyper-active mode for a few seconds and also gaped.  
  
A cloud of youkai was flying straight at them.  
  
# # #  
  
BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! I'm soooooo evil! I am the queen of cliff-hangers!  
  
Next episode: The three of us fighting for the first time!  
  
Akkiko: Katsup!  
  
Meg: Kiki no bakaaa!!  
  
-both approach authoress carrying weapons-  
  
Kat: ACK!! SAVE MEEEE!!! -runs off, shielding head with laptop-  
  
Meg: Damn her! We can't hit the computer!  
  
Kat: Yes! Loop hole!  
  
Akkiko: You can't run forever, you evil, evil person!!  
  
Kat: Maybe not—but I can sure as hell try!! -runs away-  
  
A final comment: REVIEW!! It's when you push the pretty blue button at the bottom of the screen that says "Go!" or "Write Review" or whatever. Please!! (puppy eyes)  
  
Disclaimer: We've been through this. I DO NOT own Inu-yasha. I WILL NEVER own Inu-yasha. I'm just trying to spread humour in the world by writing fanfics starring myself and my friends! I own myself, I own the plot, and Meg and Akkiko each own themselves. Happy?  
  
Lawyers: Yes, we are very satisfied.  
  
Meg, Akkiko and Kat: GET OUT OF HERE, YOU SUITS!!  
  
-WHACK- -CRASH- -SIZZLE- -BOOM!!- 


	6. Battle

Hmm. . .interesting. I thought I would have more death threats for the cliff-hanger last chapter. (dodges toaster) Okay! I get it! Write more!  
  
Pre-chapter notes:  
  
THANK-YOU to all you wonderful, wonderful people who reviewed!! I lahv you all!  
  
And to all you stinky people who HAVEN'T REVIEWED. . .I hate you! . . . not that I loved you in the first place, I don't even know you. . .erm. . .on with the show!  
  
Special thanks to Meg, who FINALLY posted the next chapter of Beauty and the Beast (it's another Inu-yasha fic, VERY cool) and to Akkiko, who sends me evil e-mails with three pages of "you EVIL EVIL EVIL . . . EVIL EVIL CHILD". . .and who gives me ideas for up-and-coming scenes.  
  
Ahem. . .and now! The moment you've all been waiting for! The one, the only—  
  
Akkiko: Get ON with it already!!  
  
Meg: Boo! (chucks sneaker)  
  
. . . Chapter Six of Okaeri Nasai, Welcome Home (bows to audience, avoiding debris being thrown by crazed friends)  
  
Okaeri Nasai  
  
Chapter 6—Battle  
  
A cloud of youkai was flying straight at them.  
  
"What the -BEEP- is that?!" Akkiko yelped.  
  
"It appears to be a swarm of very big insects intent on sucking our innards," Kat said, slightly bemused.  
  
Meg blinked. "How . . . the hell . . . CAN YOU SAY THAT SO CALMLY?!!"  
  
Kat rubbed her ear. "I have no idea."  
  
"Yo! Wenches! Either get out your weapons or take cover!" Inu-yasha called, the Tetsusaiga drawn and ready. Kagome clutched her bow, and Sango had Hiraikotsu. Miroku picked up his staff.  
  
"Take cover? Take COVER?" Akkiko smiled crazily. "That guy just doesn't know us yet."  
  
"No shit," Meg said. "It's time to see if the stuff that oracle gave us is worth anything in battle."  
  
"Those demons have sucky timing," Kat sweatdropped. "I mean, you two are hyped up on coffee and iced tea."  
  
"We KNOW!!" Akkiko and Meg cackled gleefully. Kat shuddered.  
  
"This battle will not be long," she muttered.  
  
The swarm drew ever closer, and Kat, Meg and Akkiko made ready. Meg summoned the kumo, Akkiko brought out her slingshot and Kat took her ofuda out of her pocket and began scribbling on them.  
  
"Whatcha writing?" Akkiko asked.  
  
"Random stuff I hope will be destructive," Kat replied, holding up an ofuda. It had 'fireball' written on it in kanji.  
  
Meg sweatdropped. "Why am I suddenly reminded of Raye in 'Sailor Moon'?"  
  
Akkiko laughed. "Hey, Kat, are you going to say some cheesy lines when you throw them?"  
  
Kat stood, took aim, and threw the strip of paper at a tree. As she did she said, "Fireball!"  
  
Let's just say there was one less tree in the forest, and one more pile of ash.  
  
Meg and Akkiko sweatdropped. "At least she isn't hyper," Meg said.  
  
"Yeah!" Akkiko giggled. "Unlike US!" Enter wild, insane giggling of hanyou on iced tea.  
  
"Wenches! Here they come!" Inu-yasha called, and leapt into the air, swinging the Tetsusaiga as he went. Immediately half the youkai were wiped out.  
  
"Wow!" Akkiko squealed. "He's so cool!!"  
  
"Akkiko! Watch it!" Miroku called, holding back one demon with his staff.  
  
Akkiko turned and saw a rather large centipede demon flying straight at her. She blinked, and calmly drew out a rock from her pouch. Drawing back her slingshot, she muttered darkly, "I can't believe that oracle just gave me rocks to work with!"  
  
She released, and the rock flew straight to its mark. It hit the youkai between the eyes . . . and promptly exploded.  
  
Everyone stopped (including the youkai). Akkiko stared and then grinned slowly. "I like these rocks," she said.  
  
-Interruption-  
  
Meg: WHY are we giving Akkiko explosives? Are you MAD, woman?  
  
Kat: Do you really need to ask that?  
  
Meg: Good point.  
  
Akkiko: WHEE!! I GET EXPLOSIVES!!  
  
Kat: Security!  
  
-end-  
  
In the meantime, Meg was discovering how to use foxfire (which -cough- proved very effective) as well as using the kumo's lightening bolts to further fry the never-ending stream of youkai.  
  
Kat was having fun with paper (and I am not talking origami). By this time she was not only using 'fireball', but 'ice spear' and 'hurricane'. Needless to say, there was very few misses happening between the three of them.  
  
But now, it was JUST the three of them fighting.  
  
"Inu-yasha!" Kagome squealed from her position over his shoulder. Inu-yasha was crouched on the ground nearly half a mile from the battle.  
  
"I want to see if they're worth anything in battle," he said. "If not, then they have to go back to your time, Kagome. I'm not going to waste my time worrying about three more girls."  
  
"Inu-yasha, I think they've more than proved themselves!" Miroku snapped. "One of them is my sister!"  
  
"And mine!" Sango said, glaring.  
  
"AND mine!" Shippo said, jumping up and down in rage.  
  
Inu-yasha was silent for a few minutes, and then nodded. "Let's go."  
  
He rose, depositing Kagome on her feet. Then he took a step forward . . . but found he couldn't. It was like there was something holding his legs . . . and his arms . . . and . . . his . . . body?  
  
"What the hell?" he shouted as he was raised into the air by nearly- invisible strings. He gaped as he was followed by Kagome, Shippo, Sango and Miroku. They were now all suspended in the trees. Someone giggled nearby.  
  
---  
  
(Back on the battlefield)  
  
"That was boring," Akkiko said. "I didn't even get to use my swords."  
  
"At least you've worked off your iced tea-high," Meg sighed. "And I've worked off my caffeine high."  
  
Kat grinned. "Thank the lord!"  
  
Meg and Akkiko glared at her, and then . . . noticed something very odd. They were the only people on the field at this point.  
  
"Where . . . is everyone?" Kat said, very confused.  
  
Meg scowled. "They abandoned us! I can't believe them! When I get my hands on that hanyou. . ."  
  
"You just want your verbal punching bag back," Kat said.  
  
Meg shrugged. "True enough. Now where did they—"  
  
"Yoo hoo," said a girly voice somewhere above them. The three girls looked up and—  
  
"HOLY SHIT SHE'S LEVITATING!!" Akkiko screamed, pointing frantically at the young girl that was seeming to hover seven feet above the ground. She was tall, with medium-length black hair, pale skin, and skimpy clothing. Her mouth was arranged in a cynical smirk as she surveyed the teens.  
  
"Hello, kids," she said, smiling. "My name is Yura. Yura of the Hair."  
  
"Wow, that sounds Hairy," Akkiko muttered.  
  
"You mean as in Harry Potter?" Meg whispered back.  
  
"No, just . . . hairy."  
  
"Uh . . . what's up?" Kat said hesitantly. "Er, I don't know if you've seen anybody, but by any chance—"  
  
"What have you done to Kagome and the others?" Meg snapped.  
  
"MEG!!" Kat squealed in outrage. "You're not being polite."  
  
"Why should I be?" Meg shot back. "She doesn't smell right."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Akkiko asked. "Besides the fact that she's still levitating, I think she looks pretty human."  
  
Kat snorted. "Dude, YOU look pretty human, Akkiko, but even outside of this world, we all know you're a devil straight from—"  
  
"Anyways," Meg glared. "So, bitch, are you going to tell us where Inu-yasha and them are or do I have to hit you with a lightening bolt?"  
  
Yura giggled. "Rude little kitsune, aren't you? But you have such nice hair, I'll forgive you."  
  
Suddenly Meg felt something thin go around her throat. "Wha—"  
  
Kat and Akkiko both shrieked in surprise as they were lifted into the air. Meg continued choking on the ground, clawing at her throat for something she couldn't see.  
  
Yura gestured and the hairs that were supporting her lowered her to the ground. "Lord Naraku told me to capture the hanyou, the reincarnated miko, the taiji-ya and the monk but he never mentioned you three. He also never said I couldn't harvest some new material." She walked up to Meg and stroked her long coppery hair. "All of my old darlings were destroyed when that girl killed me the first time."  
  
Akkiko blinked. "You're DEAD?!"  
  
"I was," Yura smirked. "But Lord Naraku and Lady Kaguya helped me come back. Now I'll be able to get revenge for bringing them Inu-yasha and his little group of friends." She laughed. "But first—" she raised her hand and a sword flew into it, aided by more hairs, "—To get your beautiful hair." She glanced at Akkiko and Kat. "And then it'll be your turn."  
  
Meg tried to move, to see what was happening behind her. The expressions on Akkiko and Kat's faces were ones of pure horror, and Meg began to worry about what that Yura-bitch was doing.  
  
Akkiko struggled. Meg's in deep shit and I can't move!! She thought frantically. WHY can't I move?!  
  
Yura took the sword in both hands, raising it to Meg's neck level. Akkiko squeezed her eyes shut and balled her hands into fists. Got—to—MOVE!! She thought. Got to save Meg!!  
  
Kat opened her mouth to scream as Yura began to swing the sword, but suddenly felt heat coming from Akkiko. She snapped her head to look and her jaw dropped.  
  
Akkiko was outlined in black fire, her eyes and hands squeezed shut. Energy sparked around her for several moments, and then was drawn into the teen's body as the light faded. And then—  
  
Something cracked as cartilage shifted, and Akkiko's ears reshaped to an elfin point. She opened her eyes, showing they had turned silver, and narrowed them. Blue triangle tattoos suddenly appeared on her cheeks. She flexed her fingers and her nails shot out in long claws; twisting her wrists expertly, she severed the strings holding her up. As she fell to the ground, her black hair began to turn silver in places.  
  
Yura had paused when she, too, felt the heat coming from Akkiko, and now stared, stunned at the newly-turned hanyou. Akkiko glared at her, and then grinned in a very demonic way. --;;  
  
"You were going to hurt my friend, weren't you?" she said evilly, and Yura felt a shiver run down her spine. "Don't you know that's the top thing you can do to piss me off?"  
  
Kat twitched. This could get ugly. And Meg had passed out from lack of oxygen, due to the hair that was still strangling her.  
  
Yura took a step back from the maniac demon and made a few more gestures. Suddenly Meg stiffened, and her arms went unsteadily in front of her. Kat blinked.  
  
"What the . . . Akkiko! Yura's controlling Meg!"  
  
Akkiko scowled, and held her hands out in front of her. The wristbands of her fingerless gloves began to glow, and between one eye blink and the next, she was holding twin swords.  
  
"Akkiko! What the hell are you doing?! You're going to make Meg into sushi!!" Kat screamed.  
  
Akkiko remained silent, and as Meg advanced, silently circled her.  
  
Yura smiled confidently as her hairs carried her into the air once more. "You'll never hurt your own friend, will you?" She laughed and swung via hairs off towards the forest.  
  
Meg coughed and looked up, to see a hanyou that had to be Akkiko (did anyone else have that creepy demonic gleam in their eyes?) who was holding not one sword, but two. She also realized that she could not control her limbs.  
  
"What the—" she tried to say, but couldn't move her mouth either. Akkiko raised her swords, brow furrowed in concentration.  
  
"Okay, Meg. Don't. Move." The swords flew in a fast motion, until the blades were near invisible. Meg stood, stunned for a few moments, and then fell to the ground, no longer held up by the hairs.  
  
Kat blinked a few times at Akkiko. "Since when can you use a sword like that?" she finally managed.  
  
Akkiko shrugged, grinning. "I have absolutely no idea!"  
  
Kat sweatdropped. "Gre-eat. That's convenient. Now get me down from here!"  
  
---  
  
Yura smiled at Inu-yasha, who was still trying in vain to break the strings holding him back. Kagome stared at her, eyes slightly afraid.  
  
"You're supposed to be dead!" she said frantically. "Inu-yasha and I defeated you a long time ago!"  
  
Yura shook her head. "Maybe you did send my soul on, but with the right price, anyone or anything can be brought back from the land of death." She smirked. "In this case, that price was taken care of by Lord Naraku, and here I am!"  
  
Miroku shook his head. "That's not natural. Things that have been killed should stay dead."  
  
Yura frowned at him. "So you're that monk," she said. "Huh, aren't you cute?" She fingered a bit of his bangs. "Your hair isn't very long, though—"  
  
Thonk. Thonk. Yura jumped back as two arrows flew past her and buried themselves in the trees. Turning, she was stunned to see Meg standing there, holding her new bow. A quiver of arrows dangled from her back.  
  
"What? How did you—?"  
  
"Hello!" Akkiko dropped from the tree tops, holding up her swords. She grinned evilly.  
  
Yura glared. "I've had just about enough of you." Gesturing once more, a thick group of hairs formed into an arm and split, one heading for Meg, the other for Akkiko.  
  
"Fireball!" Several ofuda landed on the hair, bursting into flame. All heads turned to see Kat, who was making her way through the trees. She looked different; her pupils were slitted, resembling a cat's, and her ears were pointed like an elf's. She stopped, and everyone saw a cat's tail wave slowly behind her. Her necklace glowed briefly and a spear appeared in her hands, the blade shaped like a crescent moon.  
  
She suddenly grinned maniacally at Yura, who shuddered.  
  
"I don't like zombies," she said. Meg and Akkiko edged forward with the same expressions. "You're really creepy. We're going to kill you now."  
  
And . . . . Uh . . . well, I think you can guess what happened next.  
  
::five minutes later::  
  
The three girls climbed out of the small crater that they had created in the centre of the clearing. Yura had been in the middle of it, unfortunately, and was now fertilizer for the flowers. (;;)  
  
"That . . . was slightly disturbing," Kagome muttered.  
  
"Those girls fight like—well, demons," Sango finished lamely. Kat walked up to her and cut the hair still holding the group captive.  
  
"We are demons," she said, showing pointed teeth. "Well, sort of."  
  
"No, I'M a demon," Meg said, cutting down Miroku and Kagome. "You're supposed to be human, but luckily aren't, and Akkiko is half-demon."  
  
"That was fun!" Akkiko said, grinning as she cut down Inu-yasha. She looked at him, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "So, mind explaining why you ditched us in the middle of the battle?"  
  
Inu-yasha growled and looked away. "I wanted to make sure you could hold your own. I don't have time to protect any newbie girls that think they're warriors."  
  
Meg glowered. "Why you little—"  
  
Kat smirked. "Isn't that cute? He was worried about us!"  
  
Akkiko glanced at Kat; Kat winked at Meg; the three girls all threw themselves at Inu-yasha in a merciless bear hug.  
  
"Thank-you, Inu-yasha!" they laughed.  
  
Inu-yasha flushed. "What are you—get offa me, you wenches!"  
  
Kagome laughed. "He means that in the best way possible!"  
  
"Oh, we know!" Akkiko said, as she went flying (Inu-yasha then detached Meg and Kat and flung them back a few feet)  
  
---  
  
Kameko Haru smiled a little as she watched the group from the branches of a nearby tree. Inu-yasha snapped something at the three girls; they laughed it off, making him even angrier.  
  
"Well, at least they're fitting in," she said to herself. She looked at her crystal ball and frowned. The smoke inside of it was still red. "What are you planning, Naraku?" she muttered.  
  
The smoke twisted into two forms: one was Kaguya. Kameko knew Naraku had brought her back from Miroku's kazaana; the other shape was that of another foe Inu-yasha and his friends had dealt with. (A/N: If you can't tell who this is, then I'm no-ot tell-ing!)  
  
Kameko stood and gracefully leapt down from the tree. She started walking towards the Bone-Eater's Well.  
  
"Those girls will have a lot to face in the next few weeks," she said. "I'd better arrange it so that they may stay here, in the feudal era." Positioning herself for a leap into the well, Kameko Haru turned back and smiled, though her eyes were worried.  
  
"Good luck, girls," she whispered and jumped.  
  
# # #  
  
Akkiko: Well, another chapter finished! Good job, Kat—Kat? ::looks around for authoress, who has disappeared::  
  
Meg: I think she's over by the computer ::THUD:: Yep, I would definitely say over by the computer.  
  
::The two girls run over to computer, where Kat had passed out::  
  
Meg: Kat, why are you dead?  
  
::The pile-of-goop-that-is-Kat sits up and glares::  
  
Kat: Because 1) I just finished my first week of summer school 2) Throwing together an effective portfolio in three days is NOT fun 3) Deadlines really live up to their names and 4) I had to get this chapter done so at least four people wouldn't kill me!! I think I have an excuse to be dead!! ::Thud::  
  
Akkiko: Seeing as our authoress has passed out, I'll say "ja ne!" and don't forget to review!!  
  
Mass-of-goop-that-is-Kat: YA'D DAMN-WELL BETTER REVIEW!!!  
  
Akkiko and Meg= -.-;;  
  
---  
  
Okay, I'm not dead, but seriously, summer school is NOT FUN. I would happily avoid it, but NOOO, Grade Eleven's HAVE to take CALM 20, and to avoid being bored to death during the school year, I've decided to get it done in two weeks. One week down bay-BEE!!  
  
Muses: Yeah, lot's of time for you to work on your fanfics.  
  
Authoress: ::glares:: Shut. Up.  
  
Oh, and regarding the people who want to kill me:  
  
Here you are: Meg, Akkiko, Rae, and Laura!! SO STOP HARASSING ME!!!!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-yasha or it's characters. I own only original characters, the plot, and myself. Meg owns herself, Akkiko owns herself, blah blah yadda yadda. 


	7. Flea

::Kat bounces into room, singing:: I finished CALM!! I SOOOO happy!!

Thanx going out to Akkiko this chapter for her Chapter Three review, which went something like this:

I just realized I haven't reviewed Chapters 3, 4 or 5!! ACK!! MUST SPREAD LOVE OF STORY!!!

LOL. I doesn't matter how depressed/psycho-pissed-off I'm feeling, you can always make me laugh.

This chapter is also dedicated to Meg, who had to move last month. I MISS YOU!!! ::even though I'm coming to harass you on Thursday, and you call almost every day anyway::

Uh . . . can't think of anything else to say, so here we go!!

Okaeri Nasai

Chapter Seven—Flea

Lady Kaede moved slowly around her hut, gathering herbs that had been drying for the past few weeks. She sat down by the fire and began to crush them as Kirara wandered in, looking disappointed.

"What is the matter Kirara?" Kaede asked the neko. "Did they leave you behind?"

Kirara mewed, and lay down, pouting. She did not like being ignored.

"I only hope Inu-yasha hasn't gotten into any trouble as of late," Kaede muttered. "He was in a very bad mood last night."

Then some shouts caught her attention. "Demons! Demons!!"

"Inu-yasha, you jerk!"

There was a yelp and a -boom- as Inu-yasha flew through Kaede's door. He looked behind him; his butt now had a lovely singe mark, thanks to Meg's lightening bolt.

"Freaky wench!" he yelled, balling his fist.

Kaede frowned. "Inu-yasha, do not shout. What has happened?"

"He groped me!!" Meg shrieked, coming through the door.

"It wasn't my fault!!" Inu-yasha yelled back.

"Oh yeah—pervert!!"

"Come on, Meg," Kat said from behind her. "Be fair. It wasn't his fault."

—flashback—

"Miroku," Inu-yasha said, walking up the road, "why must you always try?"

"Pardon?" Miroku turned to his friend, giving Inu-yasha the perfect view of the fresh handprint on the monk's face. (He had tried to -help- a young woman struggling with a basket, but it had ended badly)

"Why do you always grope women? I mean, they always slap you, no matter how good your intentions are."

"Well. . ." Miroku thought for a moment, and then took Inu-yasha's hand. "I'll show you."

He placed Inu-yasha's hand on Meg's behind.

Both Meg and Inu-yasha got little blue lines under their eyes.

Sango, Kagome, Shippo, Kat and Akkiko all looked back with shocked looks on their faces.

"Incoming," Kat and Akkiko said, plugging their ears.

"EYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

—End—

"So, in reality, you should be throwing lightening bolts at Miroku, not Inu-yasha," Akkiko said brightly.

Miroku paled. "Hey—aren't you supposed to be defending me?!"

Akkiko crossed her arms. "Not if you're going to put your friends' hands on my friends' butts."

Kaede blinked at the three newcomers. They were dressed strangely, similarly to Kagome, but they looked like demons.

"K-Kagome, who are these girls?" the priestess asked.

"Oh, sorry, Lady Kaede," Kagome said. "This is Kat, Meg and Akkiko . . . um, maybe we should go inside to explain."

:::ten minutes later:::

"So. . . Naraku is planning something new now, is he?" Kaede poked at the fire. "And you have no idea what is coming up?"

Kagome shook her head. "All we know is that this oracle showed up and said that Kat, Meg and Akkiko would help us defeat whatever Naraku is cooking up."

"And she gave us some cool gadgets!" Akkiko said from near the door.

"And you three are . . . the sisters of Miroku, Sango and Shippo?" Kaede blinked.

"Yes, we are," Kat nodded. "From what Kameko Haru said, our souls were to be their siblings, but we died before we could be born. So we were reborn in Kagome's time, and . . . yeah . . . here we are!"

"SPIDER!!!" Meg screamed, and jumped up. Just a note to those who don't know her, Meg has a very sensitive fear to spiders . . . even saying the word 'spider' will cause her to jump, shriek, and grab the nearest object in order to bludgeon the poor arachnid to death.

In this case, said object was the Tetsusaiga.

"SPI-DER!!" Meg screamed again, whacking at the miniscule dot with Inu-yasha's sword.

"Hey! Put that down, bitch!!" Inu-yasha yelped, and grabbed it out of her hands.

Meg glared at him, little tears coming from her eyes. "But—SPI-DER!!"

"Meg—it's okay—it's dead!" Akkiko said, face to the floor, observing the squished—but still twitching—mass of "spider". "Oh, wait—no it's not. And it's not a spider, either."

"What?" Kagome kneeled next to her. Her face turned to shock. "Oh no—it's Myoga!!"

:::five minutes later:::

"Sorry about that," Kat said, sweatdropping at the little flea that was now drinking tea from an impossibly tiny teacup in front of Kaede's fire. "Meg really, uh, _really_ doesn't like spiders."

"I can see that," the flea said, glaring.

Miroku coughed to hide a laugh. "If this is how Meg reacts to a flea she mistook to be a spider, I will hate to see how she reacts to Naraku."

"Naraku?" chorused Kat and Akkiko.

"That demon-person-thing who's given you all the grief?" Akkiko asked.

"What's that got to do with Meg's fear of spiders?" Kat blinked.

"Normally Naraku looks like a normal man, but sometimes he becomes a huge spider." Miroku sipped his tea calmly. Meg went pale.

Inu-yasha grinned. "Oh, yes. A _very_ big, _very_ hairy, very _disgusting_ spider."

Akkiko and Kat looked at each other as Meg began to shake. "Well, when we run into him, Meg'll probably just squish him with her frying pan," Kat laughed.

"Or attempt to do so," Akkiko said, sipping her tea.

"What frying pan?" Kagome, Miroku and Sango said in unison.

Meg suddenly stood up, reached behind her, and brought a frying pan seemingly out of no-where. She brought it down on Inu-yasha's head.

"That frying pan," Akkiko and Kat said in unison.

Meg put the frying pan away. "That's for scaring me, stupid hanyou."

Inu-yasha glared, rubbing the goose-egg on his head. "Bloody wench. I wasn't lying."

Meg's face went pale. She opened her mouth.

"Incoming," Kat and Akkiko said. In practiced movements, everyone except Kaede, Myoga and Kirara put their fingers in their ears.

"EYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

:::five minutes later:::

Kaede was still nursing her hurt ear.

"Testing, Kaede, testing. Can you hear me?"

"Eh? Are ye saying something, Kat child?"

Kat sighed. "Kaede's still deaf. What about Myoga?"

Meg was crouched down beside the flea. "Mister Flea-Person? Can you hear me? Hello?"

Myoga squinted at her. "Meg, your mouth is moving, but I can't hear anything coming from it. AUGH!! I can't even hear my own voice!! Oh my Gods, there's a silencing charm on this place!!" He started running around in circles.

Inu-yasha sighed, and walked up to the distraught insect. -Squish-

---

"You didn't have to squish him, Inu-yasha," Kagome scolded as she helped Kaede and the girls prepare dinner.

"You know some other way to shut him up?" Inu-yasha was laid out on the ground.

"Master Inu-yasha, that is so rude! Have I not loyally served you?" Myoga cried.

"Oh, yeah, Myoga, you've been really helpful—turning tail at the first sign of danger!" Inu-yasha snapped.

"And what, you turn tail at the first sign of work?" Meg said sarcastically. "You could help, ya know!"

Inu-yasha stuck his tongue out at her. "That's woman's work."

"Inu-yasha . . ." Kagome said slowly. Inu-yasha paled. He knew that voice; it was Kagome's 'Be-nice-or-you've-got-an-OSUWARI-coming-your-way-buster' voice.

"Sorry, Meg," he said quickly.

"Whatever."

---

Later that evening, after dinner had been finished and cleaned up, Kat had a sudden realization.

"AUGH!! We have school tomorrow!!"

Meg yawned. "Kat. It's only Saturday night."

Kat relaxed. "Oh. Never mind." She sat back down and opened her book.

Everyone blinked. Akkiko shrugged.

"Kat's obsessed with school."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!

"Are too!"

"Am not!

"Am not!

"Are too!"

"See, I told you."

". . . . . . . . . . . ARGH!!"

(A/N: Something along those lines actually happened -.-;;)

---

:::next day, Sunday:::

The next morning passed without incident, but everyone should have known the peace wouldn't last. Sure enough, by lunchtime . . .

"Get back here you little brat!"

"I got it first!"

"_I_ dibbsed that fish!"

"Meg! He's being mean to me!"

Lunch consisted of fish from the river. Inu-yasha and Shippo both wanted the last one. They had reached for it at the same time, Shippo getting it first, and Inu-yasha falling face-first into the dirt, hand clasping around fish-less air.

Utter chaos.

"Inu-yasha, leave my little brother alone!"

"Back off bitch!"

That was when the frying pan came out . . .

"Meg! Put the frying pan away!!"

"Akkiko! Go for the legs!!"

"Let go of me!!"

Kagome thought it was definitely time to go home.

"Hey, guys, it's getting kinda late . . ."

"Inu-yasha, don't think you can escape by climbing that tree!"

"Get it away from me!"

"You little jerk! I am not an 'it'!!"

"Meg, chill out!"

"Get the frying pan!!"

Yep, definitely time to go home.

---

"Meg, I'm going to hurt you . . ."

"Sorry, Akkiko."

"'Sorry'?! You poked me in the eye with your frying pan handle and all you can say is 'sorry'?!"

They were emerging from the well, having left behind: a certain hanyou in a tree; a demon exterminator, fox demon and monk trying to coax him down; a priestess and flea demon shaking their heads at the nonsense; and several disturbed villagers.

"Well, I think you guys have had your fill of Feudal-Era Japan for the week," Kagome said, sweatdropping as Akkiko continued to grouse.

Kat sighed. "And to think we can't go back until next Saturday."

"Well," Meg said, rolling her eyes. "We _could_ go back earlier, if _some_ people in our group weren't obsessed with going to school and being model students."

"Shut up."

"I don't want to."

"Spider."

"ACK!!"

Suddenly Akkiko's cell phone rang. Kagome sweatdropped.

"Why do you have a 'James Bond' theme song ring?" she asked.

"Leave me alone!" Akkiko said and yanked her cell phone from her pocket. Meg and Kat groaned.

"What is it?" Kagome asked.

"You'll see," was all they said.

"Hello? Drakie!! How are you, koi?" Akkiko asked, grinning and acting bubbly (scary random character change). "I'm doing fine . . . Oops, other line going, call you back hon!" she said and clicked a button. Meg slapped her forehead. "Hello? Oh hey! How's it going Riku? That's good—Oh, other line going, call you back love!" she said again and clicked another button.

"Akkiko! For godssake you're on the other side of the world!! Can't these guys live without you for a few months?!" Kat demanded.

Akkiko winced. "Er, actually, this one's for you. It's Dain."

Kat blinked, took the phone, and said slowly, "Dain?"

"HEY KATHY! How's life going for you? Listen, I have some bad news, those three girls you switched with—"

"THEY'RE DRIVING US INSANE IS WHAT!!" another voice shrieked. Kat had to hold the phone a meter away from her ear.

"Ouch, they're what Rita?" she asked Akkiko's sister.

"DRIVING US MAD IS WHAT!!" yet another voice shrieked.

"Ow, Jesus!" Kat muttered rubbing her ear. Meg grabbed the phone.

"How bad can it be bro?" she asked the owner of the third voice, her brother Koubuku.

He sighed. "Bad."

"Oh, by the way, they're coming back," Dain said, coming back on.

Silence.

"WHAT?????"

# # #

_Dun dun DUNNN!!!_ Okee, next chapter: Eri, Yuka and Arimi _return!!_ The horror!!

Akkiko: Aaaand . . . what's going to happen to us? We can't leave yet!

Kat: That . . . is a secret. BWAHAHAHA!!

Meg: No it isn't. You told us weeks ago.

Kat: Then it's a secret for them! ::points at readers::

Akkiko: Oh . . . so you don't want it getting out that Eri, Arimi and Yuka are coming back, and we're going to—mff!!!

Kat: ::hand over Akkiko's mouth:: Don't give it away!!

---

Anyways, Kiki here again! Sorry it's been so long . . . but these two have been threatening me to update—

Meg: Hiya!

Akkiko: Evil child . . .

—So I am forced to write humorous, albeit slightly short chapters. So, next chapter the girls return, and maybe I'll introduce the bad guy!

Naraku: Heh-heh.

Sesshomaru: When do I come in?

Kouga: Hey, don't forget about me!!

Houjo: Why was I just in one scene?

Myouga: You'd better let me have more appearances!!

Joey: Yeah, me too!

Kiki: Joey? You're not in Inu-yasha, dumb-ass!!

Joey: Oops.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-yasha, dammit. If I did Kikyo wouldn't exist!

Kikyo: And when am _I_ coming in?

Kiki: You aren't, dammit!! Oh, wait ::checks script:: Yes you are . . . dang.


	8. Flames

Once again, Akkiko has been the incredibly evil demon she is, and so, here is chapter 8 . . . now -BEEP- off.

Akkiko: That's not very nice.

Kat: It was not meant to be.

Okaeri Nasai

Chapter 8—Flames

Akkiko grumbled in her sleep as she heard her alarm go off. She yawned and stood up—in the tree. Luckily, there was a branch just below the one she had been sleeping on, so she didn't fall.

Of course, that only lasted until she took _another_ step.

Bang! "Since when did my bed grow six feet?" Akkiko mumbled. "Ptoo—and why does my carpet taste so bad? It tastes like . . . grass."

"And how do you know what grass tastes like, Akkiko?" said a voice somewhere above her head. Akkiko looked up and saw Meg, who was bending over her friend, and Kat, who was shaking her head in the background.

::later, at school::

"So . . . how are you girls?" Kagome asked at break.

Kat shrugged. "Dain told us that Eri, Arimi and Yuka will be leaving today, and arriving tomorrow. I don't know what we're going to do."

"We're going to stay, of course," Meg said. "We have to. The oracle said that it's up to us to save the Feudal Era."

"Maybe," Kagome said. "But I have to go to the Feudal Era a whole lot more than you can. People will start getting suspicious if you skip too many days."

"We can always make arrangements to stay at your place, and then say we caught your illnesses," Kat said. "Although your grandpa will have to come up with better ones if they're to apply to us."

"No kidding," Kagome said, sighing. "But somehow I don't think that'll work. If you get sick, your parents may insist you be sent home."

"I have an idea," Akkiko said. "But it's going to be really tricky . . ."

::lunchtime::

"You want us to do THAT?!" Meg yelped.

Akkiko nodded. "The way I figure, it's the only way."

Kat nodded. "She has a point. If we're careful enough, we could pull it off."

Akkiko smirked at her. "You do know this means that you'll be missing a lot of school time."

Kat glared. "I have A's in all my classes, except Math, where I have a B. If anyone needs to be worried about their grades, it's you two. Especially since _some_ people we know haven't been doing their homework." She raised an eyebrow at Akkiko, who laughed nervously. "Besides, traipsing around ancient Japan sounds hell of a lot more interesting than staying in the modern time."

"Maybe, but if you guys get caught, you could be in big trouble," Kagome said worriedly.

"Relax," Meg said, stretching. "We're talking to the principal this afternoon, and we'll talk to our parents tonight. It'll all work out."

::later::

"So, ladies, you would prefer to return home?" the principal asked.

"Yeah, we figure it will be easier than staying at our foster-parent's houses," Meg said. "We don't want to impose, or force them to take care of another person when their daughters are coming home."

"Well, that is very responsible of you. I trust your parents will be sending you home tomorrow?"

"Yes, we will be leaving tomorrow morning." Kat nodded, pulling what looked to be a plane ticket out of her bag. "And we've arranged to stay with Kagome Higurashi tonight."

"Very good." The principal shuffled some papers on his desk. "I just wanted to make sure of what you'll be doing. You may go now."

Kat, Meg and Akkiko filed out of the office and looked at each other with triumphant expressions. "Phase one: complete," Akkiko said.

Meg smacked her shoulder. "Don't make this sound like a cheesy spy movie."

Akkiko grinned and ran off down the hall, humming the Mission Impossible theme.

::that night, at the Higurashi temple::

"But Mooooom," Akkiko said into the telephone. "I don't want to go home now! I want to stay here! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"She sure is putting a lot into this," Kagome said, serving tea. "And you two have already called your parents?"

Meg and Kat nodded. "It wasn't too hard for me," Kat said, "they're glad I'm making friends."

"And you conveniently forgot that your 'new friends' are actually from about four centuries ago," Meg said, stirring in some cream and sugar.

Akkiko hung up. "Finished!"

"So, now everyone you know in Japan thinks you're going home to Canada, and everyone in Canada thinks you're staying here in Japan?" Kagome asked.

"You got it," Kat said. "And we told our parents that we're staying here at the temple, so if anyone calls for us, your family just has to say we're at school, or the movies or something."

"I'll be sure to inform Grandpa not to say you have arthritis or whatever," Kagome laughed.

"Yes, that will be very useful," Meg said, reading a magazine.

"I'm bored," Akkiko said.

"Uh-oh," Kat and Meg said together. "Here it comes . . ."

"PILLOW FIGHT!!!"

::the next day::

"Hey, wenches! Wake up!"

Meg groaned and rolled over in her sleeping bag. She, Kat and Akkiko were all on the floor of Kagome's room. Kagome herself had left for school two hours ago.

"Wha—"

"WAKE. UP!!" All three girls screamed as something cold and wet was dumped on them.

Inu-yasha found himself staring down three very angry, sleepy—and, consequently, wet—teenage girls. He put down the bucket of what used to be filled with ice water; he had found it outside near the shrine.

"What. Do. You. Want?" Meg said through gritted teeth.

"And it had better be good," Kat snapped, wringing out her hair.

"I'm bored, and I'm hungry." Inu-yasha stepped into the room. "Feed me and amuse me. Where's Kagome?"

"She's at school," Akkiko said, who had lain back on her damp pillow, still half-asleep.

"Oh, that place. Hey, how come the kitsune is cracking her knuckles at me—AAAHH!!!"

"I'LL TEACH YOU TO WAKE ME UP LIKE THAT, YOU JERK-OFF!!"

Kat flopped down next to Akkiko. "Can you imagine this every morning?"

"Scarily enough; yes," Akkiko said into her pillow.

::ten minutes later::

"So, what do you want to eat?" Meg said grudgingly. All four of them were in the kitchen.

Inu-yasha was just about to answer when Akkiko started screaming.

"OH MY GOD!! KAT'S IN THE KITCHEN!! MAYDAY!! MAYDAY!! MAY—" THWACK!!

Kat put down the spatula that had knocked Akkiko out.

"What was that about?" Inu-yasha said, slightly disturbed.

"Kat can't cook," Meg said, grinning.

"Shut up," the girl replied, sitting at the counter. "So, whaddaya want?"

"Ramen."

Kat clapped her hands together. "Okay, now THAT I can cook!"

Akkiko groaned. "Kat, why do you have to hit so hard?"

"I'm _sensitive_," Kat replied hotly. "Especially when it comes to my cooking skills."

"What cooking skills?" Meg snickered. Kat answered her with a death-glare.

"Anyways, it's not like your any better, Akkiko. Remember the pudding incident?"

Another groan. "Why did you have to bring that up?"

::FLASHBACK::

Back at home in Canada, Meg and Kat were over at Akkiko's after a sleepover. Akkiko was at the stove, attempting to cook some pudding. Meg and Kat were at the table, reading.

Akkiko spoke. "Hey Meg . . . Kat? Is pudding supposed to . . . growl at you?"

Meg and Kat snapped their heads up. "What?! No!" They rushed over to look over her shoulder.

"Oh my God," Meg said. "I think it's blinking. And . . . is that a tentacle?"

"Akkiko, what the hell did you do?" Kat asked, poking the blob with a spoon. "I mean, you've done some crazy things, but this is—AAAAAAUUUUGH!! Ithasmyhandithasmyhandithasmyhand!!!!!"

"Oh shit!" Meg and Akkiko shrieked; Meg grabbed Kat around the waist while Akkiko grabbed the pot. They tugged until the pudding let go of Kat's hand; Meg and Kat flew back into the pantry. Akkiko held the pot away from her, wincing as she heard the beast within snarl and gurgle. She threw it in the garbage can beside the door and, after clamping the lid on, sat on it.

"Phew. That was—" the can shuddered, and Akkiko gulped. "—close."

::END FLASHBACK::

"Come to think of it, my mom was wondering where that pot got to," Akkiko said thoughtfully.

Inu-yasha was staring, slightly disturbed, and Kat and Meg were sighing.

"What did you do with that thing, anyway?" Kat asked.

"Well, I put it in a suitcase . . . and brought it along with me, but the airport said it had been put on the wrong flight." Akkiko quailed as both her friends loomed over her.

"Ready?" Meg said to Kat.

"Ready." Kat nodded at Meg.

They both took a breath.

"You—IDIOT!!!" Akkiko fell back, squiggles for eyes.

"Does this mean . . . that bringing it along was the wrong thing to do?"

Kat ran her hands through her hair. "We have no idea what the hell that thing could be doing to the ecosystem! . . . where-ever it is right now."

The three girls looked at each other.

::in their imagination::

---Australia---

"Oh my God! Run!" Hundreds of people ran from the airport in Sydney, screaming as something oozed from a suitcase. The blob . . . snarled.

At the local news station: "And today at Sydney airport, a gigantic monster, smelling of pudding, attacked several people. The monster is now making its way downtown, and—oh my lord, it's IN the news station! Augh!!!! And now, here's Mike with the weather."

::end::

"Uh—wenches? I'm not getting any fuller over here." Inu-yasha scowled and his stomach grumbled.

Meg and Kat glared at him. He backed down immediately (although it could have been the frying pan and the fan they were holding).

"Well, we might as well make this fun while we're at it," Meg said, getting out some packaged noodles. "How about Kat, Akkiko and I all make ramen and you tell us which one is the best."

"I can do that." Inu-yasha replied eagerly.

::twenty minutes later::

Inu-yasha finished slurping down Akkiko's ramen. Two empty dishes already sat near him. He burped and set down the third dish.

"So?" Meg said. She was holding the frying pan.

"I'm not saying anything until you get that thing out of your hand," Inu-yasha said stolidly. Kat calmly pried it out of Meg's grip.

"Now then," the hanyou cleared his throat. "Yours—" he pointed at Meg. "—Had too many veggies in it, and not enough meat. Yours—" he pointed at Kat. "—was too spicy, and had too much meat. And yours—" he pointed at Akkiko. "Yours was . . ." he grumbled something.

"What was that?" Meg said, leaning closer. "We didn't hear you."

Inu-yasha growled. "It was the best."

"Okay . . ." Akkiko blinked. "Score!" She served herself up some noodles and happily slurped down the soup. "Yummy!"

Inu-yasha blinked a couple of times at her. She looked up at him. "What?"

"I want some more," he said, holding the bowl out to her. He blushed. "And . . . you have noodle in your hair." He reached out and plucked it.

Akkiko blinked. "O . . . kay," she said, and took his bowl.

Meg and Kat glanced at each other. "You don't think . . ."

"A way to a man's heart is through his stomach," Meg said philosophically.

Kat looked at the clock; quarter to eleven. "I'm getting bored just sitting around here; why don't we leave a note for Kagome and go to the Feudal Era?"

"After I'm done eating," Inu-yasha said around a mouthful.

Akkiko giggled as some noodles spilled out of Inu-yasha's mouth; he blushed and flicked some soup at her, grumbling.

Meg and Kat raised their eyebrows, both thinking the same thing. _Inu-yasha's got a crush . . ._

::In the Feudal Era::

"Oh, Meg!" Shippo ran and jumped into his big sister's arms as she climbed out of the well. "I was just coming to look for Inu-yasha!"

"I'm right here, twerp," the hanyou said, and reached back to help Kat out.

"Thank-you," she said. "I'm never going to get used to this."

"Kat, you are so pathetic sometimes," Akkiko laughed.

Inu-yasha suddenly stopped and looked at the three girls.

"What?"

"When did you three change?"

Meg, Kat and Akkiko looked down at themselves. Sure enough, they looked like their demon-selves.

"Must have happened when we were in the well," Kat said, shrugging. "You know, when the walls go all sparkly and we hover in Zero-Space for a few seconds?"

Inu-yasha shook his head. "Weird." He took a step and stopped. "Get out your weapons."

"Why?" Akkiko asked.

"Something doesn't smell right," Meg said, serious. She set Shippo down on the edge of the well and held out her hands. Her bow and arrows sprung into her hands.

Akkiko summoned her swords, and Kat her spear and scrolls. "What's up?"

"There's something in the forest," Inu-yasha said, unsheathing Tetsusaiga.

"I smell it now, too," Kat said. "It smells like . . ."

"Smoke!" Akkiko yelped, pointing. "The forest is on fire!"

"That's no natural fire," Meg said. "It also reeks of youkai."

The minutes ticked by, and the five stood near the well, staring at the stream of smoke that kept coming closer and closer.

"Shippo," Inu-yasha hissed. "Get back to the village and find Miroku and Sango."

"No need." Akkiko turned to him coolly. "Think of this as practice for us."

"Yeah, run along, Inu-yasha," Meg said. "We can handle this."

Inu-yasha stared, then chuckled. "If you think I'm just going to turn around like a coward, you've got another thing coming."

"You okay, Kat?" Akkiko asked.

"Yep," Kat said. "I just keep thinking about this like it's a video game, like Final Fantasy X-2."

"And you died . . . how many times the last time we played that?" Meg said airily.

"Meg! You're not helping!" Akkiko snapped, smacking Meg upside the head.

"Girls! Heads up!" Inu-yasha yelled.

The four of them readied their weapons (Shippo had gone back to the village by this point) just as three fireballs came rolling out of the forest at high speed. When they were ten feet away, they popped open to reveal three girls.

The three were tall, willowy, and would have seemed completely normal except for the fact that their clothes, hair and weapons seemed to be made entirely of flame.

"Greetings, young woman from another time," said the girl in the middle. "And greetings to you, Inu-yasha; we come from Lord Naraku."

"And just who the hell are you?" Inu-yasha asked.

"We are the Fire Sisters," said the girl on the left.

"We were sent by Lord Naraku," began the sister on the right.

"To destroy you," finished the one in the middle.

"Hey, think they practiced this before coming?" Akkiko hissed at Meg.

"Who knows," Meg hissed back.

"My name is La-La," said the middle sister.

Meg, Kat and Akkiko all fell over. "Why am I reminded of Gourry in Slayers?" Akkiko said, gritting her teeth.

"My name is Li-Li," said the sister on the left.

"And my name is Lu-Lu," said the sister on the right.

"And I suppose it's just a coincidence there are three of them," Kat said. "Perfect for us to practice on."

"Shall we begin?" La-La said, and spun a fireball in her hands. It formed into a wicked-looking katana.

Li-Li and Lu-Lu did the same thing; in seconds they both held spears. "Go!"

Akkiko leapt back as Li-Li tried to thrust her spear into her face. "Ugh, these girls aren't newbies."

"No shit, Sherlock!" Meg called as she moved away from La-La and attempted to run backwards and fire an arrow. She bought herself some time by throwing some fast-growing mushrooms in the Fire Sister's face.

"Ugh!" La-La screamed, knocking the crying mushrooms away. "What is this filth?"

"Kitsune bi!" La-La yelped as green fire wrapped itself around her, electrifying her body.

"Little witch of a demon!" she snarled. "Your fire is nothing compared to mine! I have already wiped out three villages with my fire."

"All by yourself. Gee, what an accomplishment," Meg said, sarcasm dripping from her voice as she knocked an arrow.

Meanwhile, Kat and Lu-Lu were in a stare-down. "Guess what?" Kat said cheerfully.

"Wh-what?" Lu-Lu said, caught slightly off-guard.

"I have fire, too!" Kat gracefully threw a handful of ofuda that spiralled. "Ofuda Fireball!"

Lu-Lu shrieked and conjured a wall of fire herself. Then she moved through the wall of fire.

"Oh, shit!" Kat yelped, and used her spear to block Lu-Lu's attack.

Inu-yasha perched on the edge of the well, eyebrows raised. "Hmm . . . maybe they can handle themselves."

"Of course we can!" Meg said, running up and ducking behind him. "It just takes us a while to do. DUCK!!" Inu-yasha jumped into the well as a fireball passed through the spot he had just been. La-La flew past on a cloud of fire, while Meg flew off on the kumo.

"Damn wench," Inu-yasha growled.

Akkiko gracefully twirled her blades, hypnotizing Li-Li and ended up cutting off one arm. The fire-demon shrieked and came back to herself, holding up her spear one-handed.

"You're going to pay for that, hanyou," she growled.

"Try me," Akkiko challenged.

Kat was in trouble. Lu-Lu had captured her in a ring of fire, and unlike her opponent, Kat couldn't move through that fire without being burned.

"Not good," she muttered. Suddenly Lu-Lu appeared and swung at her legs. Kat jumped back and almost fell in the flames. Lu-Lu disappeared again, smirking.

"Kat!" The girl heard her name being called, and better yet, she recognized the voice.

"Sango!" she called back, and could barely make out her sister's form through the flame.

Lu-Lu leapt at out at her again, and Kat twisted away, going on her hands. Something fluttered out of her chest pocket. It was the black feather that Kameko Haru had given her.

::flashback::

"The feather will activate when you say a single word," Kameko continued. "And I believe you'll like the results."

"What's the word?" Kat asked.

"You will know," the oracle assured. "Just know to use it when there is no way out but up."

::end::

Kat looked around at the fiery walls, and then looked up. "That's it!" she breathed, and got to her feet. Holding her spear in one hand and the feather in the other, she held it to her heart for a moment.

And then she knew the word.

"Sinthos!"

Lu-Lu hacked at the place where the hanyou had been moments before. Now all that was there were a few black feathers. She looked up and her jaw dropped.

Kat pumped her black feathery wings and landed beside a surprised-looking Sango.

"So; this is the final gift the oracle gave to you," Sango said, in awe.

Kat nodded. "She was right; I do like the results."

Sango smiled and put a hand on Kat's shoulder. "Do you need any help?"

"No thanks. I can do this." Kat turned away and began furiously scribbling on her ofuda.

Lu-Lu came out of the fire ring, extinguishing it as she moved away. She was met with the sight of the newly-winged hanyou holding a single ofuda and grinning.

"Guess what? I have a new spell to try. And you're the guinea pig." The ofuda left her hand, spiralling towards the fire-demon, who immediately summoned a fireball.

"I didn't know you could hurt people with pieces of scrap paper, girl," Lu-Lu taunted as she let the fireball loose.

"Ofuda Water-blast!" Kat yelled; the ofuda twisted and suddenly water appeared out of nowhere; an entire river now spiralled towards the youngest Fire Sister. It put out the measly fireball and carried on to the stunned demon, who screamed as she, herself, was extinguished.

La-La stopped on her cloud of fire; Meg took advantage of this by loosing three arrows into the cloud, which were immediately consumed. The Fire Sister scowled and continued her race with the kitsune, steadily gaining.

"Meg!" Kat called up to her friend. "Wind only fans the flames; you're making her stronger by flying around up there! Earth heaped onto a fire can put it out! Get her on the ground!"

"On the ground?" Meg let go of her bow and arrows, and made a sharp turn, reaching into her pocket. She sped straight at La-La, and at the last possible moment she arched up. Once she was over the fire-demon, she let loose her top, which grew and landed right on top of La-La.

La-La screamed as the top forced her down. It began drilling a hole in her body, and her fire would not burn it. It took her straight to earth, where it continued to hold her down.

"Kat!" Meg called. Kat gave her a thumbs-up sign.

She held up another ofuda, and threw it at the steadily growing crater; the top bounced back up safely to Meg.

"Ofuda Earthquake!" Kat yelled, and the ground shook, covering La-La. A few moments later steam rose from the earth were she had been.

"We did it!" Meg said, landing and high-fiving Kat. She turned and saw Miroku clapping from the sidelines.

"Good job, both of you," he said. Meg flushed. "But where's my sister?"

"Right here!" Akkiko walked away from another smoking patch of land. Her swords were no where in sight, but she was holding her slingshot and pouch of stones. "And once again; I like these rocks."

"Well," said a voice from the well. "Good job, you three." It was Inu-yasha. "Looks like you're well on you way to joining us." He rose and hopped off the well; just then he felt something hot sear past his skin.

"What the f—" he swore and leapt away. He looked up. On another cloud of flame stood a girl. "Who are you?"

"I am the final Fire Sister. My name is Le-Le." She conjured a fireball in each of her hands. "Lord Naraku has charged me with the death of those my sisters could not defeat."

"Screw off." These words did not come from Inu-yasha. Instead, they came from Akkiko, who had her slingshot ready. Meg and Kat followed suite with an arrow and an ofuda.

From the village, Kaede saw another miniature explosion and wondered what on earth those youngsters were up to.

After the smoke cleared, all Akkiko could see was the scowling face of Inu-yasha.

"You know, I could have taken her myself," he snapped.

"Don't fool yourself," Akkiko snapped back. "You didn't even have your sword drawn. It's lucky you have us looking out for you."

"Yeah, well . . ." Inu-yasha looked away, flushing. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Meg called from a few feet away. "Actually, that chick was pretty easy to beat."

"She was probably the weakest," Kat said, "and that's why Naraku saved her as a last resort."

"So . . . what exactly happened to get four fire-youkai to attack you?" Miroku said.

"That's what I would like to know," Sango said. "Kat, you have burns on your arm, and so do you, Meg."

"Huh, funny, I don't have any," Akkiko said wickedly.

"Shut up."

"Hey Meg? Spider."

"EEK!!"

"Akkiko, that's not nice."

"When am I nice?"

"On occasion, you can be nice."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Shut up, Miroku."

Firstly, special thanx going out to Akkiko for giving me the idea for the Fire Sisters—I was having a little trouble coming up with something to pop out and attack us ;;

Secondly—

Naraku: I thought I was going to get a part in this chapter.

Ahem—SECONDLY, I was hoping to add another scene this chapter, but since I'm already at fifteen pages, I think I should stop. As for Naraku—

Naraku: I THOUGHT I was going to get a part this chapter.

As for Naraku (who is being beaten over the head by yours truly—Naraku: Ow! OW!!) he won't make an appearance for at least another two chapters.

Akkiko: Who cares? He's just the bad guy.

Meg: So, Kat, when do we see your bishie?

Kat: He's coming right after Naraku.

Naraku: (nursing several head injuries) Ow . . .

Kat: Make-up!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-yasha. Neither does Akkiko, or Meg, or any other person I know. Hopefully one day I will get to meet Rumiko Takahashi (who does own Inu-yasha), but I highly doubt she will sign over the rights to a struggling 15-year-old (soon to be 16).

PS-Don't forget to review, please! (I love getting feed back on what you think of this!!)


	9. First Kiss

(Light comes on over stage. Your authoress steps into light)

Kat: Hello, everyone. I hope you have so far enjoyed all eight instalments of Okaeri Nasai, despite the cliffhangers and long waits between chapters. Now, my dear readers, I have good news, and bad news. The good news is—here is instalment number nine! (I am working very hard on little sleep to get it done before school starts) The bad news is . . . this chapter will almost surely be a cliffhanger, and _because_ school starts soon, it may be a while before I update again (not to mention after this chapter I want to get back to some of my other fics). So, with that mention in mind, please enjoy. If, when you finish this chapter you have an unexplainable urge to kill me, don't worry; I will completely understand. However—

(Takes off heavy cloak she is wearing to reveal track suit with her laptop in a bag over her shoulder)

Kat: —YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!!!! (Runs off)

Akkiko and Meg= -.-;;

The Inu-yasha gang= o.o;;

Reviewers= O.o;;;

Okaeri Nasai

Chapter 9—First Kiss

Kagome reached up and grabbed onto the wooden lip of the well, pulling herself up. She looked around the clearing at the various smoking craters and shook her head. As she settled on the ground of the Feudal Era, she stopped. There were three—no, four jewel shards nearby. And they were coming from—

"Kagome!" The girl turned as Shippo leapt into her arms, hugging her. "Kagome, you wouldn't believe what happened while you were at that school-place of yours! Four evil fire demons came and attacked us and they made a big mess and—"

"And they had jewel shards in them," Kagome said, walking over to one crater and pushing her hand through the warm earth. She held up a tiny shard of the Shikon no Tama.

"You're kidding me!" Kagome turned to see Inu-yasha, Sango and Miroku as well as Kat, Meg and Akkiko all making their way over to her. "You're telling me that these three defeated demons complete with jewel-shards in them on their first try?!" Inu-yasha demanded.

"Wow," Meg remarked, tossing her hair. "I guess we just have natural-born talent for slaying demons."

"I still say they weren't so tough," Akkiko muttered. "And I got a shard-thing from that freaky hair demon anyway." She reached into her pocket and held it out to Kagome.

"Kagome? What's wrong?" Kat asked as the Japanese schoolgirl glared in Meg's direction, flushing.

Kagome stood and stalked over to Meg, grabbing her shoulders. "Meg, what did you tell Houjo!?"

Meg sweatdropped. "Ah—what?"

"What did you tell Houjo to do?!"

"Oh . . . that." Meg blinked and thought back.

::flashback::

"I mean, it's not like she'll ditch you," Meg said, a little more calmly. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Oh. . ." Kat scrutinized Houjo carefully. "You mean, she has ditched you?"

A nod.

". . . More than a dozen times?"

Another nod.

"Well!" Meg clapped her hands together. "In that case, you're screwed, unless I give you some advice!" And with that she forced Houjo's butt into a chair.

::end::

"'_Oh, that_'?! Is that all you can say?!" Kagome began strangling the kitsune.

"Okay, that's it," Akkiko said, grabbing Kat. "What 'advice' did Meg give Houjo?"

"Well. . ."

::flashback::

"You need to be more aggressive," Meg said. "Have more confidence when you're speaking to her. This is your true love! You must fight for her!!"

"Is she always this dramatic?" Houjo whispered to Kat.

"Oh, sometimes it's worse. You should see her when me or Akkiko has a crush." Kat sighed, banging her head on her desk.

"You! Pay attention!" Meg said, pointing a finger a Houjo. "Now, then, the next time you're talking with Kagome, you have to ask her out. But make it like she doesn't have a choice in the matter—and when she says 'yes', you kiss her."

"WHAT?!" Several heads turned to their table as Houjo went pink.

"Meg, don't you think that's a little over-the-top for him?" Kat asked mildly.

"K-kiss Kagome-san?" Houjo sputtered. "W-without even _asking_ her?"

"Don't tell me a cutie like you has never kissed a girl before!" Meg said, shocked. "It's simple; you just do this—" And she leaned forward. And she kissed him.

Kat developed little blue lines under her eyes. "Oh, boy. . ." she muttered. "Something tells me this isn't going to go over well."

Meg broke the kiss, leaving Houjo puckered up, looking like a fish.

(Interruption:

"In all honesty," Meg said, sighing, "it was rather like kissing a sponge. I feel sorry for Kagome."

End interruption)

Meg tapped the side of her cheek. "Of course, a kiss on the lips may be a little much; you may totally scare her off," she said, desperately groping for a way to help her friend avoid kissing a sponge. "It may be safer to just give her a kiss on the cheek at first." And she kissed Houjo on the cheek, which made him come out of his trance-like state.

That's when the nose-bleed started.

"Damn I'm good!" Meg called, running for some tissues.

"I knew that no good would come of this," Kat sighed, holding out a handkerchief to the bleeding teen.

::end flashback::

Meg coughed. "So, yeah. . . in my defence, I really _did_ tell him just to kiss you on the cheek."

Kagome let go of Meg's throat for a nanosecond. "Well, if that's what happened, how come he came up to me, told me we were going to the movies on Friday, and—without even waiting for me to answer—kissed me on the—on the—on the—"

"Oh my GOD!!' Kat shrieked. "Did he seriously kiss you on the lips!?"

Kagome nodded, blushing up a storm. Kat sighed.

"I guess poor Houjo-kun got a little ahead of himself."

Akkiko stifled a giggle. Kagome glared at her, and then Meg again. Meg gulped.

"Ah—erm—hey! How about I pop back to the modern era and grab some stuff for dinner?"

Sango blinked at her. "But I was going to make supper toni—" She was cut off as Meg sped past her towards the well.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Sango-chan! I'll whip something up myself! Be back in a second!" And with that she was gone.

Kat sighed as Kagome simmered down. "Well, hopefully that will put an end to her matchmaking."

"Don't count on it," Akkiko said, still holding a jewel shard.

"Did you really get that from Yura?" Kagome asked her, pointing at the shard.

"Yeah," Akkiko answered, placing it in Kagome's hand.

"I couldn't sense it at all."

"Well, you couldn't sense the jewel shards in our rings either," Kat said, "At least, not until you touched us."

"Hmm, I wonder why I can't sense the shards on you guys," Kagome said, going to collect the shards that had been in the other three Fire Sisters.

"And why was a shard in Yura in the first place?" Miroku asked.

"Well, you said she was dead, right? Maybe that shard was what brought her back to life," Akkiko put in.

"If that's the case, Naraku must be getting very, very powerful," Sango said worriedly.

"We'll worry about that later," Inu-yasha said, crouching on the well. "I'm hungry again. That wench had better be bringing back ramen."

"I say it again; don't count on it," Akkiko said.

:::later:::

It turned out to be, not ramen, but meatballs that Meg was planning on making for supper. She rushed back through the well, burdened by bags of food and such, and kicked everyone out of Kaede's little hut, including Kaede herself.

"My, that child is pushy, isn't she," the old woman muttered, cleaning some herbs.

"Meg's always been a take-charge kinda girl," Kat said, laughing. Suddenly a face loomed over her own. "What's up, Inu-yasha?"

"Who's this 'Houjo' kid and why did he kiss Kagome?" the hanyou said in a scary voice.

Kat sweatdropped. "Houjo is a guy that goes to our high school; he likes Kagome and kissed her because of advice Meg gave him." She sighed. "His brain probably blocked out the little tidbit of kissing her on the cheek and only registered the kissing on the lips."

"SUPPER'S READY!!" Meg called from inside the hut.

In a matter of minutes everyone was seated in the hut around a bubbling pot of meatballs. Meg dished out these as well as some rice and vegetables.

"This smells excellent," Miroku said. "You must practice a lot for when you're married, Meg."

Meg blushed a little. "Actually, I had to learn how to cook because my parents both work."

"Your mother works? Oh, I suppose she works in the fields and doesn't get home until late," Sango said. "Or does she help you father with his work?"

"Uh. . ." Meg sweatdropped. "Well. . ."

"Hey Kagome," Inu-yasha said, changing the subject. ". . .Was kissing that guy really like kissing a sponge?"

Kagome nearly choked on a meatball. Kat patted her back and sensed a world war coming.

"You—you—" Kagome glared at the hanyou, who was innocently eating his dinner.

"That must've been weird; Kikyo never kissed like a sponge."

That was enough for Kagome. She grabbed the first thing that came to hand: a meatball in her dish.

She threw the meatball, and. . .-splat!-

Inu-yasha's bowl dropped with a clatter as he felt sauce drip down his ear. "You bitch!" he yelled, and grabbed a meatball from _his_ dish.

Kagome squealed and ducked; Kat had already moved out of the way, so it hit. . .Akkiko! Wrong person to hit.

She blinked slowly as the meatball slid off her cheek.

"Oh . . . shit." Kat and Meg ran out the door.

There were a few seconds of calm . . . and then all hell broke loose.

"FOOD FIGHT!!!"

:::after the Armageddon subsides:::

Kaede kicked them all out of the hut, and everyone in the group knew that they were out of there . . . indefinitely.

"Meg, why did you have to make the _sticky_ meatball variety?" Kat yelled at her, trying to get a blob of meat out of Sango's hair.

"Sorry!" Meg said, scrubbing Shippo's cheek.

"Stupid wench," Inu-yasha muttered. His hair, not to mention his ears, was completely brown thanks to the sauce. He looked at Kagome. "You started it."

Kagome glared. "It was your fault I threw the first meatball!"

Meg and Kat looked at each other. They were the only clean people of the group. "Now, now, people. It could have stopped at just Kagome and Inu-yasha, but once you throw Akkiko into the mix. . ." Everyone looked at what had once been Akkiko, now covered head-to-toe with meatball and meatball residue and looking like something from the swamp.

"That's it!" Meg threw her hands in the air. "I give up. Everyone, to the baths!"

"To the hot springs, actually," Kagome said, rubbing some sauce off her cheek. "This way."

"Hey, Meg!" Miroku called as the girls started to file down one path and the boys another.

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to tell you that it was a great meal, before. . ."

"Before it was turned into World War III," Meg laughed. Catching Miroku's confused look, she coughed. "Never mind. Um . . . Oh! You have some sauce on your cheek." Meg scrubbed at Miroku's cheek with a napkin.

"Itai!" he said. "That hurts!"

"Sorry, but it's—sticky!" Meg frowned at him. "Oh, there's some beside your mouth, too." Scrub, scrub, scrub.

"ITAI!! Are you trying to rub my skin off?"

"I'm sorry, you big baby. But if it hurts that much, I'll kiss it all better." Leaning in, Meg pecked Miroku's cheek.

Miroku flushed. It appeared he had never been kissed willingly by a female before. "Uh, I feel something sticky on my lips." Meg raised the napkin threateningly, thinking what he was thinking. Miroku smiled sheepishly. "Can we skip the napkin thing, please?"

Meg smiled. "'Kay." I think you can guess what went on next.

:::later, in the hot springs:::

Kat clapped her hands. "Go Meg!" she said to her blushing friend. "You finally made your move."

"Yeah, well . . ." Meg laughed.

"God, and now you're sticky, too," Akkiko said. "What were you doing?"

"Oh, nothing . . . much." Meg grabbed a towel and started drying off. "So, Akkiko, when are you going to make _your_ move?"

Akkiko coughed. "My move on whom?"

"Don't play dumb, Akkiko," Kat said, splashing some water in her direction. "We know you like Inu—"

"WATER FIGHT!!"

Sango, Kagome and Meg all watched as Kat shrieked and tried to get away as Akkiko grabbed her head and dunked her.

:::half an hour later:::

When everyone was reasonably clean and reasonably dry (although Kat was still a little waterlogged—that's what happens when Akkiko dunks you) everyone gathered at Kaede's house and (after begging her to let them help) cleaned up the remains of the chaotic dinner.

After that, everyone sat in a clearing just outside of the village in front of a huge fire. Well, almost everyone. Miroku was chatting with Meg; Shippo was playing with Kirara; Akkiko was filling in Kagome about the battle that had occurred that day; Sango was cleaning her weapons; and Kat was reading a thick fantasy novel. Inu-yasha was no where in sight.

"Well, I'm off!" Miroku said cheerfully. Everyone looked at him from where they were sitting.

"You've been going off by yourself an awful lot lately, Houshi-sama," Sango said absently, polishing Hiraikotsu. "What are you planning?"

Miroku flashed her a smile. "It's a surprise."

Meg snorted as she rose and stretched. "Surprise my ass," she muttered.

"Certainly," the hentai houshi said, and reached out to do just that.

-SMACK!-

-THUD!-

-BAM!-

-SIZZLE!-

-BOOM!-

-CRASH!-

Respectively, those were the sounds of Meg's hand meeting Miroku's face, Hiraikotsu meeting the monk's head, Kat's hardcover following the boomerang to the same destination, Shippo's foxfire creating roast pervert, and Akkiko's Hammerspace!Mallet sending him -_CRASH_- into a tree.

"Maybe . . ." he groaned. "Maybe . . . I'll just stay here tonight."

"Pervert!" all the women yelled.

Miroku limped back to his seat and sat back down. Meg sighed and kissed his cheek, making the monk grin despite his bruises. Kat smiled at her friend, and then noticed some rustling in the nearby bushes. She pushed aside some leaves and saw someone slightly unfamiliar.

"AAAUUUUUGH!! Peeping tom! Peeping tom!!" Everyone turned to see Kat summon her spear as a black-haired person leapt out of the way.

"Stop, dammit, it's me! Don't impale me, wench!!"

Kat stopped. _That voice . . . sounds familiar_, she thought. "Inu-yasha?!"

Meg stepped up to the raven-haired boy. "It smells like Inu-yasha, and it kinda looks like Inu-yasha, except—"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EARS?!" Akkiko cried, little tears droplets coming from her eyes as she popped up behind the hanyou-turned-human and griped the now-normal human ears.

Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Shippo all looked up. "Oh," was all they said.

"'_Oh_'?" Akkiko demanded. "What does '_oh_' mean?! Why does Inu-yasha look like—like—"

"Shit, he looks like a high-school student," Meg said.

"His hairstyle kinda reminds me of Kurama from _YuYu Hakasho_," Kat said thoughtfully.

"Something tells me I should kill you for saying that," Inu-yasha growled, and stomped over to sit by the fire.

"It's a new moon," Miroku said. "Since Inu-yasha is a hanyou, one night a month he becomes fully human."

"So it's his 'time of the month'?" Meg said thoughtfully. The girls burst into giggles.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Inu-yasha snapped. "What's so funny? Miroku, do you get this?"

Miroku coughed in order to hide a laugh. "Well, actually . . ."

Shippo patted the frustrated boy on the shoulder.

"I'll explain it to you later," he said with a grin, happy to know something the hanyou didn't.

As the giggles subsided, Meg's ears twitched. She looked sharply over her shoulder.

"Meg?" Miroku laid a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong."

"The forest," Meg muttered. "It's too quiet."

By this point, everyone was listening to her, and Kagome reached for her bow and arrow; Sango hefted Hiraikotsu onto her shoulder.

"Kagome, if Naraku is giving all his minions a jewel shard, we should be able to tell if one of his demons is coming," Miroku said. "Can you sense anything?"

"No," Kagome said.

"But I can smell demon," Meg said. Shippo nodded in confirmation.

"Then it must be a wild demon," Sango said. "I'll handle it. Kirara!" Flames erupted around the little neko and a moment later a large, sabre-toothed cat stood in its place.

"Whoa!" Akkiko grinned. "I want one of _those_ for my birthday!"

"Right; be right back," Sango said, climbing on Kirara's back and flying off. Something screamed to the dark sky a ways off.

"Something's still coming," Akkiko said, her swords springing into her hands.

"Yeah; there's more than one of them." Meg stepped beside Kagome with her own bow and arrows.

"But where—" Kat was cut off by sudden rustling in the bushes behind her. Suddenly a huge snake youkai burst through the foliage. Kat screamed.

Akkiko sprung forward with impossible speed and beheaded the youkai before it got to Kat.

"Th-thanks," Kat said, drawing her spear.

"Keep alert," Akkiko said.

"Inu-yasha, keep close," Kagome called over her shoulder.

"Why don't you mind your own business—" Inu-yasha started to call back when another snake burst from the bushes behind him. Kagome quickly knocked and fired a Sacred Arrow, slicing the snake in half.

Kat went over to the corpse and prodded it with the butt of her spear. "Jesus, these things are big," she said. The youkai's body stretched five feet into the clearing and the rest of it disappeared into the surrounding foliage. It was coloured green and brown, perfect for blending into the environment. At least a foot thick, its fangs held poison that dripped from its open mouth.

"Their size isn't the scary part," Inu-yasha said bluntly. "Dammit, why did I have to be a wimpy human tonight?"

"What's the scary part?" Kat asked, looking from the snake to Inu-yasha. He looked at her with a morbid smirk on his face.

"Those are just the babies."

Kat, Meg and Kagome went pale. Miroku's brow furrowed and he placed his hand on his cursed arm, ready to suck in anything else that attacked. Akkiko merely watched the bushes, senses peaked.

Silence.

-CRASH- Without warning, another snake burst from the ground. It looked like the smaller ones, but this was big enough to swallow a car (if they existed in that world) and its fangs were as long as a man's leg. It flew several feet into the air before crashing back down to the earth with a boom, causing Kagome, Miroku and Inu-yasha to fall over.

"And there's Mama," Akkiko whispered. The snake snarled and darted forward with impossible speed for something so big. Its target was Inu-yasha.

The hanyou was struggling to get up, still shocked from the earth-shattering power of the snake's body hitting the earth. In other words, he was completely helpless.

Akkiko darted forward. She knew that even if he was on his feet, Inu-yasha lacked both the youkai-speed and the ability to use the Tetsusaiga; without them, there was no way he could dodge the snake's attack. So that left her.

Meg attempted to slow the demon down, but her arrows bounced off its thick hide. Kat jumped on its back and thrust her spear into the spine. This caused the snake to writhe momentarily, but then it continued, sending her flying. Unfortunately, she landed on Meg.

Akkiko ran in front of Inu-yasha, swords ready.

"What—are you—" Inu-yasha coughed and shook his head. "What the hell are you thinking!? Get out of the way."

"No way," Akkiko said. The snake was seconds away. "Like it or not, I protect the people I care about. That includes you."

Time paused.

And Akkiko heard a voice in her head. As did Kat. As did Meg.

_Though I placed your weapons in various items on your bodies, they are truly fuelled by the force that drives your will to live. That is, they and their power are controlled by your heart; your soul. They have been given so that you can protect those you love. _

_I am proud that you have been able to use them to that advantage. _

The snake's nose touched the sharp edge of Akkiko's sword as time resumed.

And then, all that could be seen was white light.

::later::

Sango landed in the clearing and jumped off Kirara, not knowing who to run to first. Taking up most of the clearing was an outline made of ash and burned scales in the shape of a great snake. Kagome sat up, coughing. Ash fell off her clothes.

"Kagome-chan, what happened?" the taiji-ya exclaimed, running over to her.

Kagome looked around blearily. "A huge snake burst from the ground; it hit the earth with so much force that Miroku and I were knocked down."

Kat and Meg struggled to their feet. "It was going to attack Inu-yasha, but then Akkiko . . . oh my God—Akkiko!" The two girls ran to the other side of the clearing, where Inu-yasha was just coming too, and Akkiko was a few feet in front of him in a crumpled heap.

"Akkiko?! Are you okay?!" Meg helped her friend sit up. Akkiko groaned.

"I think my swords exploded," she mumbled.

"That's right!" Kat said. "The snake rammed into you, and it was like a bomb detonated."

"Did . . . did you guys hear Kameko Haru? Just before the . . . detonation . . ."

"I know I did," Meg said gravely. "She said . . . something along the lines of our weapons being controlled by our hearts."

"And that they should be used to protect the people we care about," Kat finished. Meg and Kat looked at Inu-yasha, who glared back, clueless.

"Ah—Meg, maybe you should go check on Miroku," Kat said. "I'll help. You're okay, right, Akkiko?"

"Yeah . . ." Akkiko stretched, but remained seated. "Just give me a minute."

Meg and Kat went off, leaving Akkiko to yawn. She felt so drained . . . and yet, it had been worth it.

_They have been given so that you can protect those you love. _

Akkiko looked at her gloves, the resting place for her swords. _Those we love?_ she thought. If that was the case, there was no more denying it now.

"Hey, wench, you okay?" said a gruff voice above hers. Akkiko looked up. Inu-yasha crouched next to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, forcing a smile. But it faded, as she recalled how scared she had been when the snake had gone for him.

"Next time, try not to do something stupid," Inu-yasha continued. "You could have gotten yourself killed if your swords hadn't done that weird shit, and—what's wrong now?"

Akkiko blinked. "What?"

"You just looked so—sad."

Akkiko blinked again, and looked away, her cheeks feeling hot. "It's nothing. I was just thinking . . ."

"Just thinking what?" the hanyou glared at her.

_Damn it, he just can't leave me alone, can he?_ Akkiko thought. _Oh well, here goes—_

"I was just thinking how I would feel if you weren't here," she said, louder than she had meant to. Completely red now, she stared at the ground. "I mean, what if I had frozen and that snakey-thing had swallowed you whole? What if I hadn't tried to do anything? What if I hadn't been here? You would be . . . gone."

Inu-yasha stared at the red-faced Akkiko, and snorted. "It's not like I'm going to drop dead at any given moment," he said hotly. "Don't worry so much," he pulled her into a hug, "I'm not going anywhere."

Akkiko coughed as the others in the clearing looked their way and then preoccupied themselves with other things. "Yeah, well . . . don't think that means I'm not going to keep protecting you. That's the second time I've saved your ass in the past twenty-four hours."

Inu-yasha nodded, pulling back. "Yeah, well . . . One of these days, you're going to need someone to protect you."

"And let me guess . . . that person is you?"

He shrugged and looked away. "I protect everyone else in this group; why not you too?"

Akkiko sighed. "Well, I suppose that works, too." And, in another scary random character change, leaned closer to kiss him on the cheek.

Of course, Inu-yasha had to turn his head back at that precise moment.

Meaning they kissed on the mouth.

And while they were . . . occupied with this, the sun came up.

—A/N: ARGH!! The clichéd-ness!!!!—

Akkiko pulled away, blinking. Inu-yasha now had white hair again, and—

"THE EARS!!!" Akkiko squealed, gently grabbing them and rubbing. "THEY SQUEAK!! THAT IS SO COOL!!"

"Well," said a cold voice from the other end of the clearing. "Isn't this cozy?"

Everyone turned to see a tall man standing in half shadow. He was wearing a pelt of baboon fur.

I warned you, didn't I? -Sigh- These people just don't listen to me.

Erm . . . (glances at scary looks from reviewers) Yes, I know I am evil. Hey, on the bright side, I have the next chapter almost completely written (that's because I got the ideas a long, long, long time ago) so hopefully it won't take too too long for me to get it posted.

First off, I want to apologize to Meg for the whole 'matchmaking' scene—the part with her kissing Houjo was all her idea, and I just made up the rest! I also want to thank her for the "Surprise my Ass" scene.

Secondly, to all you die-hard fans of Sango/Miroku and Inu-yasha/Kagome (or even Inu-yasha/Kikyo), please forgive me; the thing is, I couldn't let my two best friends go through this entire fic without the chance to snog their bishies!

Meg: Darn tootin'!

Besides, it's important to the plot!

Akkiko: What plot?

...Shut up.

I would like to note that I am totally in favour of the above pairings (except Inu-yasha/Kikyo). (See below for Meg's comments on this)

And now, I want to convey my random happiness (despite the fact that school starts tomorrow, at least for me)—I have_ Tsubasa_ Volume 2 and _Crescent Moon_ Volume 1!!!

Meg: I hate you.

I know!!! So now I am going to cuddle up with chocolate ice cream and my manga and be happy =.=

Ja ne!!

Disclaimer: You know the drill, people. I own OC characters and myself, as well as the plotline. Non-OC characters belong to other people.

Akkiko: Way to be vague.

Kat: Bite me.

BETA Special: Hey! This is the wonderful BETA Meg here, calling attention to something Kat said earlier. Personally, my favourite pairing is Miroku/Sango (go look at my stories if you want proof) but, like she said, it's fun and there is a big plot chunk that is rather important to the pairings. So, just to let you know, we may be rabid fangirls, but we're rabid fangirls with a plan. And that's even worse.

Ja ne!


	10. Rocket

Wow! Chapter Ten already! This is the longest any of my fics has ever been! Kakkoii!

And now, for all you wonderful people out there who are still reading . . .

::crazy-colored lights come on over stage, authoress jumps out::

It's time for ::music:: _Naze Nani Okaeri Nasai_!! (The How and Why of Okaeri Nasai) And for this chapter, I think I'll focus on how I got started writing Okaeri Nasai!

It was a dark and stormy night . . . hey. . . who switched my scripts?!

Akkiko: Heh-heh. . . ::sneaks away::

::twitch:: Okay, it was actually a bright, semi-sunny day in winter of 2003 (it may have been November or December—I can remember snow on the ground, although living in Edmonton, that isn't saying much). Meg had downloaded the second Inu-yasha movie onto her computer and invited me (being the insane otaku I am, as well as her best friend) to come and watch (Akkiko was grounded, or working. . .something like that). And, as sometimes happens to us authoresses, I got hit by the inspiration fairy with a mallet (and I have the bump to prove it—the pain I go through to keep you people entertained -.-;;). Anyways, the idea was: what if Meg, Akkiko and I travelled to Japan, trading places with Eri, Arimi and Yuka in an exchange program? Push fate a little further by falling down the well and eventually finding out we were siblings with the Inu-yasha characters. That was basically it. I was psyched by the idea, and so was Meg, as was Akkiko, when she finally got around to watching the movie.

So, the first thing to hammer out was whose siblings we were going to be. Akkiko was automatically going to be Miroku's little sister, partially because Meg had nicknamed her 'Mrs. Happy Hands' (don't ask—I'm just friends with them, I don't explain them). Meg was originally going to be Sango's little sister, but she pointed out that she didn't want to fight her sister over Miroku. If it had ended up that Meg was Sango's sister, I have no idea who that would leave me with. For a while I was thinking of being Kaede's sister—luckily Meg shifted to being Shippo's sister (which works, because Shippo seems to require a sisterly protector, plus Meg can be juvenile—when she wants to be). Besides, I couldn't stand the thought of being in any way related to Kikyo ::shudder::

It was so much fun coming up with scenes for upcoming chapters—pretty much every time we got together, Akkiko or Meg would bring up "the story where we're related to the Inu-yasha characters . . ." and we would relate what we were doing at the time to a scene later used in the story. For example: when I poke Meg with the chopsticks in Chapter 2—that actually happened. True, it didn't happen at school, but at her house—some chopsticks were lying around (why there were chopsticks in her computer room, you figure out) and the rest is history. The "spider scenes" also wrote themselves—Meg really is that freaked out around spiders (once she called me because there was a spider in her bathroom and she was scared to go in there—I had to remind her she had _two _bathrooms in her house because she was too freaked to kill the darn thing!) Another scene that was written early on was when we meet Sesshomaru and Rin in this chapter.

So, after compiling a special file for all the little scenes floating around in Zero-space, I was almost ready to begin writing. The last thing to do was our "makeovers". Even though I'm using our original names, the characters in the story wouldn't really look like us; I called up Meg and Akkiko on the phone and let them "redesign" themselves the way they wanted to be portrayed. I'm _still _having issues with Meg's attitude—she wanted it to be like Urd from "Oh my Goddess!" It's hard for me to write her lines sometimes, but I get help from her—and Akkiko. Both of them still send me scenes that I use—The "Surprise my Ass" scene of Chapter 9 is courtesy of Meg, and it started innocently enough: as a topic for an e-mail. I'm serious! "Topic: Surprise my Ass . . . okay that sounds really wrong" In that same e-mail was the scene. I forget what I wanted to surprise her with, but that's kinda besides the point, neh?

Finally, there was the issue about coming up with a name. As stated above, for a long time it was merely "the story where we're related to the Inu-yasha characters". Then Meg, being the wonderful friend she is, sent me a site for anime words. Part of the list I copied included "Okaeri nasai—welcome home" I thought it was perfect, and, as you can see, it stuck. Kinda makes me feel sentimental ::reminisce, reminisce::

Akkiko: Will you get _on_ with it, woman!! You left it in a cliffhanger last time, and you've been yakking for a page now!!

Kat: I'm sorry! I'm just helping people better understand the way my mind works!

Akkiko: Help them understand _later!!!_ Write!!

Kat: Please pardon her. And pardon me. And now—on with the fic.

Okaeri Nasai

Chapter Ten—Rocket

At the other end of the clearing stood a man, clothed in a white baboon pelt. Naraku. The enemy of everyone in the clearing, though Meg, Akkiko and Kat had never seen his face.

"Naraku!" Inu-yasha snarled.

"Inu-yasha. So good to see you again," the hanyou said conversationally. "I see you've found yourself a new girlfriend. My, my. Kikyo will be devastated."

"How dare you use her name?" Inu-yasha growled, jumping to his feet and grabbing Tetsusaiga.

"Now, now. I'm not here to battle you. I prefer to wait until the odds are more in my favour."

"Even more reason to attack you now," Miroku said quietly, his face calm, though his eyes blazed.

"I merely came to see the new trash you've picked up," Naraku continued, ignoring the monk. He turned his face to look at Meg, Kat and Akkiko in turn. "It's strange, I sense that they are human, but they look like demons. . ." He laughed. "Perhaps they can't make up their minds what to be."

"Shut it, freak," Meg snapped. "At least we don't go around wearing monkey suits—literally."

"That's what I was thinking," Kat said. "The second I saw him, the thought that was going through my head was: 'Their enemy is a monkey?'"

Naraku dispelled an aura of anger and impatience. "Little whores," he seethed. "Let us see what powers you have—I am curious as to whether those foolish Fire Sisters were merely weaker than what they boasted, or if you truly are worthy opponents."

"Oh, so now we need your seal of approval?" Akkiko asked scornfully. "Get lost!" She sprinted at him, summoning her swords as she ran.

Naraku leapt out of her path, and landed. He moved again quickly as Meg shot three arrows consecutively at his feet. Kat followed quickly after her friend, getting a good shot as his pelt in, ripping a portion of it. Naraku retreated to the open area around the well. He was panting, and very, very surprised. These girls, they were strong . . . He, Naraku, who had beaten the Inu-tachi on many occasions—was surprised.

He was distracted as a shadow passed over him. He looked up and dodged quickly

"Dammit!" Kat said. "I missed again." She had summoned her wings and her spear head was buried in the ground where Naraku had been moments before.

"Hah!" Kat turned to see Naraku dodge Meg's attack from the kumo. Meg's brow was furrowed in concentration. "Stop running away, you coward!" she called as the hanyou ran to the other side of the clearing. "Akkiko—now!"

Naraku turned to his right as Akkiko ran up and—_slice_—the baboon pelt fell away from his face.

The three girls stopped their attacks and stared. The rest of the gang ran up behind them, wondering why they had stopped.

Then Kat started singing. "Dude, looks like a lady. . ." Akkiko started laughing uncontrollably.

Inu-yasha blinked and turned to Kagome. "I don't get it."

Kagome coughed. "I think they're making fun of Naraku because he looks. . .ah. . .feminine."

Sango cocked her head. "Now that you mention it. . ."

"Disturbing, and yet true," Miroku commented.

While Akkiko continued to laugh and Kat attempted to hold her own laughter in (doing quite a good job of it, although failing to keep a straight face), Meg walked up to Naraku, who was totally oblivious.

"So—_this_ is what you look like? No wonder you have the monkey suit. You're a bad imitation of a drag queen if you ask me. I mean, REALLY!" Meg, apparently unaware of the danger she was putting herself in, tugged off the rest of his baboon pelt. "Let's start with this HAIR! Couldn't you wash it once a year or so? And maybe get it cut? The long, shaggy look takes away from whatever 'evil aura' you're supposed to have. Another thing, who told you blue eyeliner was your color?! You're WAY too pale to be wearing that sort of shade. And it brings out the redness in you eyes, which makes you look sickly, if you didn't before." Naraku stood stock-still, shocked. The kitsune girl, still unaware, was poking and prodding at the half-demon and babbling away. "Not to mention your choice of cloak is _all wrong_. Fur is _so out_ this season, and Baboon was never stylish in the first place! You need a serious makeover, hon."

Inu-yasha stared. "What. . .is she doing?"

Kat coughed. "Meg kinda has an insatiable fashion instinct—you should have seen her when a girl wore red pleather pants and a violet shirt to school." She shuddered, unbidden memories returning. "That poor girl is probably still in counselling." She turned her attention back to her friend and enemy. "Hmm . . . Something about this scene just isn't right."

"Yea, I know," Akkiko said, scratching her head. "Something about Naraku's demonic form. . . Miroku, what's his true form again?"

Miroku looked over at them. "Oh, it is that of a spider."

Meg stopped listing off ways for Naraku to improve himself as she heard Miroku. For a moment, she just stood there, eyes wide.

Kat snickered; Akkiko sighed. "I think she's gone into shock."

Meg turned away from Naraku, blinking. Then her face scrunched up and she took a breath.

"Incoming," Kat and Akkiko said dully.

"EEEEEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Meg screamed, reaching behind herself and bringing out her trusty frying pan. She brought it down of Naraku's head, and proceeded to repeat the process. "Evil—spider—DIEE!!!"

The group looked on, now even more stunned than when she had given Naraku the strip down. She was beating him with a cooking utensil.

This did not bode well. For them, at any rate.

When Naraku came out of shock (how could she be so bold?!), he growled. Reaching into the sleeve of his baboon pelt, he grabbed something, and -SMACK!- hit Meg right between the eyes with two fingers. She stumbled back, overbalanced by the blow and her frying pan; Naraku flew off, carried by a puff of bluish smoke.

Inu-yasha growled and put a hand on the Tetsusaiga. "Let's get him—" he started, and was just taking a step, when. . .

"OSUWARI!!"

"What the -BEEP- are you doing, wench?" Inu-yasha screeched, jumping up and spitting out some dirt and grass. Kagome frowned at him.

"We have to check on Meg first!" she said, and trotted over to where Akkiko, Miroku, Shippo and Kat were already huddled.

"This ofuda," Miroku was saying, "it's similar to the ones you carry, Kat."

"So what if it is?" Meg said, mouth slightly muffled by the paper. "Get it off my face!"

"Not yet," Kat said. "Removing it could set it off, you know, like a bomb."

"Bomb?" Akkiko blinked, and then grabbed Miroku and Shippo by the scruffs of the neck, pulling them away a safe distance. "Let's leave it to the expert."

Kat glared. "Thanks for the vote of encouragement." She turned back to Meg, studying the kanji on the ofuda. "This is terrible handwriting, not to mention an older form of Japanese, but I think it says . . ."

"Get on with it!" Meg said, impatient. "What does it say?"

"I believe it says, 'rocket'."

Silence.

Kagome broke it, speaking matter-of-factly. "They don't really have rockets here in the feudal era—Naraku wouldn't know about them."

"Ah," Akkiko put in. "But don't they have fire works? And don't fireworks have . . . gunpowder . . . in . . . them . . . ?"

Another silence. Suddenly there was a crackle of electricity as the ofuda began glowing; a circle grew around Meg, and anything within two meters of her. In this case: Kat.

"Oh, SHI—" Both girl's cries were cut off as the circle 'exploded', and they were carried up, up, up into the air, almost out of sight.

Of course, what goes up . . .

. . . Must come down!

---

Sesshomaru, lord of the western lands, was walking quietly along a dirt road. On either side of him were several feet of grass leading into trees, so that the early morning sun lit his way—not that it would be any different if it were dark.

His servant, the toad-like demon Jaken, was as always a few feet behind him. Always the coward, ready to jump behind his master should there be danger, even though he held the Staff of Skulls.

A little further away was the human girl Rin, whom he had resurrected and who now followed him everywhere, only the gods knew why. She was humming a little tune which reached his ears clearly, and stopped every few paces to gather flowers. Still a child, though her eyes were so grown up.

Yes, just another quiet day.

"KYAAAAAA!!" Two voices shrieked in unison. The noisy pair was silenced, however, when they hit the ground.

Well, sort of.

Sesshomaru found himself suddenly knocked down by—a girl?—who came out of no-where—from above him.

"Meelord—" Jaken barely had time to give an outraged squawk when he experienced the same thing.

Kat groaned and noticed that the ground beneath her was disturbingly warm, and hard, and . . . It had a heartbeat.

"Oh my _God_, I'm _so_ sorry!" Kat screamed, mentally kicking herself as she helped up whoever it was she had landed on. After doing so, she found herself looking at a fine kimono over a well-muscled chest, overtop of which was an odd metal device that looked like a hunting trap. Her eyes travelled upward.

She felt a blush settle on her cheeks. She, Katherine Marina Muller, who detested that horrible cliché 'a silly schoolgirl with a crush' . . . had a crush. On a guy from another time. Who she had just landed on. And despite his recent meeting with the dirt, he still looked (to quote Meg) hot.

She took a few steps back from the man—who was obviously demon; nothing else could have silver hair, golden eyes, markings on his face, pointed ears, a furry boa that could have been a tail, and a distinct holier-than-thou attitude permeating around him. She could feel her face turning even hotter, as she mumbled more apologies.

Sesshomaru, in the meantime, was feeling slightly confused, though he did not show it. Where the hell had this girl come from? And what was she? She looked human, save for her eyes and pointed ears, but her scent was—human? Demon? A little of both? Or neither?

"It's . . . fluffy." Kat's ears pricked and she shot a look at Meg, who seemed to be on top of a little toad-man-thing, whose eyes were currently X's. Meg pointed to the demon's tail.

"The thing looped on his shoulder . . . it's fluffy," she said again, matter-of-factly.

"MEG!! That's rude!" Kat said, fuming even more. Meg looked at her friend closely. Kat was red in the face, and steadily refusing to look into the demon's eyes (even though he was staring at her, confusion only slightly reflected in his gaze).

Meg grinned wickedly. Katherine Muller had fallen for a guy (or on him, however you wanted to put it. . .). What a story.

She blinked just then and looked down. "Hmm . . . I'm on a toad. Interesting . . ."

"Excuse me, miss, but why are you on Jaken-sama?" Meg looked over to see a little girl with long dark hair, dressed in an orange and white-patterned kimono.

"I'm on . . . Jaken-sama," Meg said, "because he was in the way when I landed on him."

"O-oh," the little girl grinned. "Jaken-sama always gets in the way. I'm Rin!"

"Hi Rin, I'm Meg," Meg smiled. "Hey, you see that girl over there?" She pointed at Kat.

"The bright red one talking with Sesshomaru-sama?"

'Oh, so that's his name,' Meg thought. 'Mental note . . .' "Yeah, the, er, bright red one. Can you tell her something please?" Meg tried not to laugh as Rin nodded, still smiling.

Kat felt someone tug at her shirt. Looking down, she saw a little girl about eight or nine.

'Uh-oh,' she thought. She didn't exactly get along with kids that well. "Um . . . hi?"

"Hello!" The girl said, chipper. "My name is Rin!"

"Oh . . . Hi, there, Rin. I'm Kat." Kat bent down so she was at eyelevel.

"The lady over there on Jaken says that you're blushing 'cause you're in _love_ with Sesshomaru-sama!"

Kat's eyes bugged out; her face went ten shades redder, and steam came out of her ears. Looking beyond Rin, a vein pulsing in her temple, she glared at Meg, who simply grinned at her and waved back.

Kat let loose a sigh of irritation, clutching at a rock that was lying on the road, close at hand.

-CLONK!- Meg's head tipped back as the rock hit her square in the face. She grinned at Kat, sweatdropping a little, a bandage on her nose.

"I guess this means you don't appreciate my insight," Meg said, still smiling.

"Gee, ya think?" Kat said hotly, and started to walk away.

Rin tugged on her sleeve again. "Well, are you? Are you in love with Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Rin," said a much, _much _deeper voice. "Silence."

Kat nearly jumped when a hand was set on her shoulder. She turned to see the silver-haired youkai staring at her, mouth set in what could have been a smile . . . except that it wasn't.

Kat felt her blush rise up again. 'Damn, I must look like a frickin' lobster!!' she thought. 'Damn it! No, wait—damn him! Wait . . . ah, screw it, _damn Meg for bringing it up_!!'

"FLUFFY!!" Sesshomaru was almost bowled over when a certain hyper-active kitsune came out of nowhere and jumped on him—or, to be more specific, on his tail. "Fluffy!!" Meg squealed again, stroking the tail with both her hands. Sesshomaru was now on his back, the breath knocked out of him.

Kat and Rin blinked at Meg. Meg glared at Kat. "I'm buying you some time, you idiot! RUN—wait, no that's not right—FLY!"

Realization dawned on Kat, and she turned. "Thanks, Meg!" she called over her shoulder, and reached down her shirt. Bringing out her feather, she threw it out.

"Sinthos!" A minute later, she was flying away on the morning thermals.

"Go girl!" Meg called, and then something fastened on her shirt front, lifting her into the air. "Oops." She smiled winningly at Sesshomaru, who had regained consciousness and wasn't looking too happy.

He looked off in the direction Kat was taking. "Who was that?" he asked.

Meg blinked, and smiled nastily. "Oh, the chick with wings? How much is it worth to ya?"

Sesshomaru stared. "I'm not interested in your foolishness, vixen," he snapped.

"Fine by me," Meg said innocently. "_Kitsune bi_!!" She shot her fox-fire at Sesshomaru, who growled and dropped Meg so he could shield his eyes.

Once his grip was off her shirt, Meg grabbed the scrunchie at the end of her braid and threw it into the air. It turned into the kumo, and rose into the air.

"By the way," Meg called down. "Her name is Kat." And with that, she flew off.

---

Kat and Meg made their way back to the group after finding each other in the forest. Naruku, of course, was long gone, putting most of the party in a bad mood. Meg's insane annoying song voice didn't help.

"Ka-at's in lo-ove, Ka-at's in lo-ove!" she sang, skipping—SKIPPING, fer goddsakes!—over to the group.

Of course, everyone _had_ to be instantly interested. ::cough cough::

Inu-yasha's reaction: So what?

Kagome's reaction: Oh, that's so sweet!

Miroku's reaction: Let me guess: it isn't me.

Akkiko's reaction: Aw! Our little baby's ALL grown up!

Sango's reaction: . . . (stunned silence)

Kat glowered. "Shut _up_, Meg."

Meg continued grinning. "Aw, is the little schoolgirl embarrassed?"

"Meg . . . ." Although Kat's expression could melt steel at that point, Meg still wasn't running.

Akkiko joined in. "So who is it? Some hunk from a nearby village? Did you guys land by a pool and catch him taking a bath? Is he a hunter? Did he almost shoot you?"

"Actually, it's a demon!" Meg said.

"Ooh, really?" Akkiko said, both of them acting like prissy bathroom-gossip-girls.

"So what's his name, Kat?" Akkiko called gleefully.

Kat flushed even further. "I don't know, and I do not care."

Meg giggled. "His name's Sesshomaru!"

"WHAT?!" Meg suddenly found herself staring into Inu-yasha's less-than-cheerful eyes.

"What's the problem?" she snapped. "D'you know him? What, does he owe you money?"

"Sesshomaru is Inu-yasha's half-brother," Kagome put in, eyes wide. "He kind of wants to . . . kill Inu-yasha for the Tetsusaiga."

"Maybe . . . it's a different Sesshomaru?" Meg said awkwardly. "This is what he looked like—" She put a leaf on her head and did a flip in mid-air. -_poof_- In a burst of smoke, a replica of Sesshomaru now stood in Meg's place. Shippo clapped.

"Way to go, Sis!" he said. "You can shapeshift!"

"Hey, Meg," Akkiko snickered. "Your tail's showing."

---

The rest of the day and that night passed with little incident; plans were made to set off on another excursion for jewel shards. Kagome said that she could faintly feel something coming from the south.

"Then that's the direction we'll head in," Miroku said.

"Woot! Finally, some real action!" Akkiko said, thrusting a fist into the air.

"Fighting off fire demons, snake demons and some guy in a monkey suit isn't 'action' enough for you?" Kat said dully by the fire.

Akkiko grinned wickedly. "What's the matter, Kat-chan? Missing your Sesshomaru?"

Kat face went livid. "I'm going to kill you," she said in a deadly quiet voice. She picked up a sizable piece of wood and started chasing Akkiko around the clearing.

"I—do not—have a crush—on him!" Every pause was attributed to when Kat brought the piece of wood down—usually hitting the forest floor.

"Then why are you getting so worked up?!" Akkiko squawked.

---

The next morning, Kat stumbled out of Kaede's hut, yawning. Everyone else was awake.

"Well, if it isn't the bluebird of happiness," Meg said playfully. "Good morning, Sunshine."

"Have a nice sleep?" Kagome called.

"Yeah," Kat answered, stretching with a smile. Akkiko grinned maliciously—she can never let these things go.

"Have any dreams about you-know-who?"

Kat snapped around to glare are her friend. "_No_, I did _not_!"

"Did not what?"

"Dream about Sesshomaru!"

"Who said I was talking about Sesshomaru?"

Kat stopped, and went completely red.

Meg and Akkiko burst into laughter. "You did! You did!"

"Oh my God—your face—"

"Can't—breathe—"

As if on cue, the two of them started singing. "You think he's _gor_-geous—you want to _kiss_ him—you want to_ hug_ him! You want to _love_ him—you want to_ hug _him—you want to_ smooch_ him—AUGH!!!"

Kat, her eyes shadowed with rage, had raised a hand to her necklace and had drawn her spear. She now lunged at the two girls with it.

"DIIIIIIE!!"

Inu-yasha looked up from breakfast and simply said, "Run, Akkiko, run."

"I AM RUNNING!!" she shrieked over her shoulder.

"Miroku—can't you open your wind tunnel or something??" Meg cried.

Miroku smiled, sweatdropping a little. "Sorry, but. . .I don't think that even my kazaana could hold her fury right now."

"COWARD!!"

---

When they _finally_ got Kat calmed down, and _finally_ got on their way, the sun was high in the sky and fast burning off the mist that lay in the forests. It was almost noon when Kagome stopped on the path, already miles from the village.

"I. . .sense a jewel shard," she said. "And. . .It's coming straight at us."

"Another of Naraku's minions, no doubt," Miroku said, gripping his staff.

"I hope it doesn't pop out from the ground again," Kat said. "That was a little too creepy last time."

"I'll go take a look," Meg said, throwing her scrunchie into the air and landing on her kumo. "Be right back!"

"Meg!" Kagome called up to her. "It's coming from over there!" She pointed in the direction that they had been heading—south.

"Right!" Meg winked, giving off a mock-salute, and was gone. Several minutes passed; everyone was on guard, waiting for the familiar rumblings of a huge demon racing towards them.

"Inu-kun," Akkiko hissed. "You _do_ have all your strength back, right?"

Inu-yasha scowled. "_Yes._"

Akkiko grinned. "Good—I would hate to have to save your ass again—"

"Shut up, wench."

Akkiko raised an eyebrow. "Wanker."

Inu-yasha gaped at her. "Wh-what did you call me?"

"A wanker."

"Don't take it personally," Kat said, "for Akkiko, it's a term of affection."

"For Inu-yasha, 'wench' is a term of affection," Kagome murmured, not bothering to mention that Inu-yasha probably didn't understand the British term. . .but he'd know it was an insult, at the very least.

"YOU SHUT UP!!" Inu-yasha yelled at her. "And YOU—he rounded on Akkiko who merely grinned. "You—"

"Heads up, lovebirds!" Suddenly Meg landed between the quarrelling hanyous. "It's coming."

"What is 'it'?" Sango said, suited up and readying Hiraikotsu.

"I'm not sure," Meg said. "But it has spikes . . . lots of spikes."

"What do you m-mean sp-spi-kes?" Kagome started to stutter as the ground shook, jarring her teeth. "Kya!!"

The ground looked to see some sort of cross between a lizard and a porcupine rushing at them; its face and legs were reptilian, but it had huge spikes all over it back so that it looked similar to come prehistoric dinosaur. Worse yet—

"AUGH!!" Akkiko yelped as she dodged away from two spikes that lodged themselves in the dirt where she had been standing.

—it could shoot its spikes.

"Kagome—look out!" Meg called, as the strange demon let loose another spike.

Kagome drew an arrow and shot it—it went through the spike and it disintegrated.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango yelled, and let loose her weapon. It sliced through the air, and looked like it was about to cut right through the creature's body, when the demon flattened itself to the earth, and the giant boomerang merely went through the numerous spikes on its back.

"It's fast," Miroku said. "Should I use the kazaana?"

"No—not yet," Kagome called. "It still has a jewel shard." She concentrated on the demon, searching frantically for a sign of the tiny sliver—there! "It's in the middle of the back, buried between the spikes!"

"I'll get it!" Kat said, and drew her feather. "Sinthos!" Immediately she was in the air—only the demon could shoot its spikes _up_ as well.

"Kya!" Kat screamed as one spike skimmed her arm, drawing blood. That hurt—but she still plunged towards the lethal back, aiming for a clear patch where the shard must be—

"Kat—watch it!"

"I've almost got it!" Drawing her spear once again, Kat nose-dived and thrust the tip of it into the demons back as another, smaller spike zipped past her cheek, creating another would.

A splinter of shine popped out of the demon's back and fell to the forest floor. Akkiko, with her amazing speed, had it before the demon had time to roar.

"Inu-yasha—finish it off!" Kat called.

"Then get out of there, you idiot!" Inu-yasha retorted, Tetsusaiga at the ready.

Kat flew up, when—"KAT!!" Meg and Akkiko called at the same time. She turned . . . only to have another spike hit her in the abdomen.

Luckily, it was one of the dulled spikes that had been clipped by Hiraikotsu. So it wasn't sharp, and it didn't go straight through her—it just knocked the wind out of her and hurt like hell.

Oh yes, and it propelled her about a mile east.

---

When Kat came to, she was looking up at sky, framed by trees. Her fuzzy brain went over the last things she remembered, and she was shocked that she didn't hurt—anywhere. She had learned from Inu-yasha that youkai and hanyou healed fast, but she was neither, so why—

She sat up, and looked to her left.

Sesshomaru was sitting on a rock, right there. His sword, the Tensaiga, was across his legs.

"Ah . . ." Kat felt herself go red again. "K-konnichiwa."

Sesshomaru stood, sheathing his sword. He turned his gaze back to Kat, who scrambled to get up. "What are you?"

Kat almost fell over. "Ex-excuse me?"

"I cannot comprehend your scent."

"I . . ." Kat gulped; Kagome had explained last night that Sesshomaru hated humans. "I'm human."

"You lie. I could kill you for that alone."

_Stay calm, stay calm—you have to find a way to distract him, and wait for the others to come and rescue you—how the hell do I get myself into these situations??_ Kat thought frantically.

"H-however, I'm also, uh, demon . . . sort-of." She was babbling by this time, but it was buying her time, because Sesshomaru looked . . . calm?

_He's the quiet type, just like me—no matter how hard he tries to hide his emotions, _I_ can see through him, because I always hide mine!_ Kat gulped, and continued, "I mean, it's because of the bond I have with my friends, that's really the only reason I have any powers at all . . ."

Sesshomaru said nothing; he was getting bored. His hand twitched slightly—Kat gulped; was he reaching for his sword? The one that would actually cut her down—Tokijin?

Her mind clicked; she knew exactly how to stun him—something no one else would dare to try, but that she could do, being so close. After all, when else would she be presented with such an appealing opportunity? She sighed as she pulled Sesshomaru down so his face was level with hers.

"Meg must be rubbing off on me."

With that, she kissed him hard on the mouth.

Suddenly she heard a voice behind her: "Kat, what the hell are you doing?"

Kat let go of Sesshomaru's kimono and spun around. There was Akkiko, blinking at her. Behind her were Meg and the Inu-yasha gang, all staring in shocked silence.

Kat looked at Akkiko, then at Sesshomaru, then back again. _Damn, I didn't think they'd get here this fast, _she thought. "Um . . . yeah . . . . a-heh-heh . . ." Kat's face went red as she scratched the back of her head.

Meg walked up next to Akkiko. The two girls looked at each other for a moment, and grinned.

"Woot!" Meg said, and they started doing a little dance.

"Go Kat! Go Kat! It's your birthday!"

"Something tells me that was Kat's very first kiss!" Kagome said, going all bubbly.

"Something tells me that was Sesshomaru's first kiss, too," Inu-yasha said from a safe distance; his poor half-brother was still standing there, stunned expression on his face.

"Shut up," Kat said to Meg and Akkiko, still blushing. They, however, continued singing. "I SAID SHUT UP!!" she screeched, pulling a mallet seemingly from no where and whacking them both on the head with it. She then ran off into the forest.

Sesshomaru blinked, coming to his senses, and found himself . . . almost pleased . . . by her actions. Though they were still an act of extreme insubordination. He was a full demon, by rights, and she had just . . . his thoughts were cut off when Meg strode  
straight up to him, grabbed the front of Sesshomaru's kimono and dragged him down two inches to her face.

"Okay," she started. "Did you happen to see the blushing human-chick—thing!!—that just ran off?"

Sesshomaru nodded slowly, not quite sure what this bitch was going on about.

"Well, she happens to fancy you, and I know you fancy her—don't try to deny it, you big old fluffball, you." She patted his cheek.

Sesshomaru stared. Who were these girls, who baffled him so? But before he could actually say something coherent Meg continued.

"Here's the deal: you're going to go find her and talk to her, and so help me—say the right thing or I don't care if you are a youkai, I can still strangle you with your own tail."

"In other words," Akkiko said, popping up between Meg and the disturbed youkai, "You break her heart, I break your head."

"And I'll help," Sango added, holding Hiraikotsu threateningly.

Sesshomaru sweatdropped at the onslaught of the three women.

Miroku observed from a safe distance. "You kind of have to feel sorry for the guy," he said, sipping tea.

Inu-yasha also took a sip from his cup, sneaking a peek. "You have to admire them though," he muttered. "They're the only three wenches who would ever dare to speak to Sesshomaru like that."

---

Kat stopped running when she was two clearings over; panting, she tried to calm down. WHAT THE HELL HAD SHE BEEN THINKING?!!

Enter the shoulder devil and the shoulder angel.

Devil Akkiko looked down at herself. "Okay, why do I have a pitchfork . . . and why is Kat so big?"

Angel Meg readjusted her halo. "We're Kat's way of personifying the voices in her head—you know, her conscience. You're her bad side, I'm her good side."

Devil Akkiko and Kat both looked at Angel Meg, then at each other, and laughed.

"You—my good side?" Kat panted. "Oh, please."

Angel Meg fumed. "Ahem—anyways, you're asking yourself 'why did I kiss Sesshomaru?' It's obvious—you're a young girl, just beginning to recognize the opposite sex, and so—"

"Erm," Devil Akkiko spoke up, leafing through a thick volume of "Kat's Previous Thoughts". "Actually, she was trying to keep herself alive."

Angel Meg shook her head. "No, she just wanted to suck face with Sesshomaru."

Kat and Devil Akkiko looked at her, horrified.

"I thought _I_ was supposed to be the devil," Devil Akkiko said.

"Okay, that's it—both of you, scram!" Kat said hotly, batting both of them so that they turned into smoke.

"Oh, my—talking to ourselves, are we?"

Kat snapped to attention, her senses pricked. _Who . . ._

"Over here," said the voice again. Kat whipped around and saw a tiger, lounging in a tree.

She blinked at it. Tigers weren't supposed to be in Japan . . .

The big cat jumped to the ground and started coming at her, slowly. Kat shifted into a fight position and summoned her spear, just in case.

The tiger chuckled, and as it moved, it _transformed. _"Silly, silly kitten; put that thing away, it won't be any use to you." Within a few steps, an elderly man stood before Kat. He smiled at the stunned expression on her face. "Now, now, don't look so surprised. You should have expected that Naraku would send someone of greater talents than the Fire Sisters after the three of you. After all, you three are sisters in your own rights, and far too difficult for a measly group of fire-demons to reckon with."

_Sisters?_ Kat frowned. Her, Meg and Akkiko. Why wouldn't Naraku think they were sisters? They had shown up at the same time, and they drew power from each other.

"So . . . what's your little trick?" Kat asked boldly.

The man's grin widened. "My name is Koroshiya the Beast-Tamer."

"Beast-Tamer? I don't like what that implies about me." Kat frowned.

"I carry that title not only because I can control even the most savage of beasts—" Koroshiya withdrew a sphere from his robes; it appeared to be a globe. "—it is also because I can bring out the beast in most _people_." The globe began to glow—red, blue and green blended and swirled until one color was indistinguishable from the other and the entire sphere turned black. "So, child, what is your name?"

"K-K-Kat," she answered, mouth moving on its own.

Koroshiya's eyes sparkled with humour. "Kat? Kat?! How perfect—I'll turn you then—" He thrust the orb towards her. "—into a little pussy cat!" A shine of black lightening issued from the orb, going in all direction until it concentrated at one target: Kat.

She dropped her spear as the lightening hit her, searing her skin and causing her to cry out—then it seemed like her skin was shrinking, shrinking until it was all stretched and—

The pain stopped. Kat plopped to the floor, feeling her clothes slip off of her. She shook her head and looked up—and suddenly the world was a much bigger place than she remembered.

But then again, the world must seem a whole lot bigger to a cat.

And she was, indeed, a cat, with auburn fur—the same color as her hair—with a silver-white patch on her chest in the shape of her ankh pendant.

Koroshiya smiled and walked up to her. "One target, hit and complete." He grabbed the scruff of her neck. "Now to take you to Lord Naraku, after I get those other two girls of course. And don't worry—I'll make sure not to turn either of them into a mouse."

Kat snarled and swiped her claws at him, trying to curse but succeeding only in hissing. Koroshiya did not stop smiling; suddenly she felt very scared.

Without warning he threw her at a tree on the other side of the clearing; Kat hit the tree and fell to the ground, stunned. Koroshiya laughed.

"I can tame any beast," he said. "Especially a weak little kitten like yourself." He looked down at her clothes and reached for a flint he had in his robes; she wouldn't need those anymore—but something caught his eye. He leaned down and saw a ring. It had slipped off Kat's finger when she had been transformed.

"This—" his eyes widened. The ring contained a shard of the Shikon no Tama! He was most blessed on this day! Lord Naraku would reward him for this. He touched the ring—

_A vision appeared before his eyes of a young woman in a black kimono, holding a glass orb writhing with smoke, with golden hair and dark blue eyes that seethed with fury. _

_Kameko Haru looked into the eyes of Koroshiya. "This object is not yours to take," she said. "It protects the ones I have presented them to. You will not touch them again."_

Koroshiya ignored the compelling voice—the temptation of a jewel shard was too great—and touched the ring. And then he screamed as it glowed hot.

And then he disintegrated into a bubbling pool of acid, right beside the ring, which cooled once again to hard silver.

Well, that's it for now!! Holy crap, this was a long chapter.

Semi-cliffy, gomen nasai. And a happy Halloween to all you people out there!

Special thanks to Meg for the line "Say the right thing or I don't care if you are a youkai, I can still strangle you with your own tail." LOL, that was perfect. Also HUGE thanks to Meg, for being a wonderful, amazing Beta and making this chapter all pretty and shiny (and also for basically rewriting Sesshomaru's lines—he was the hardest to write in-character)

Until next time ::bows:: Don't forget to review and all that jazz!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Inu-yasha or its affiliated characters. No, I am not going to blackmail Rumiko Takahashi into given me rights to said characters. I will continue with my non-profit career of spreading humour/angst/romance in the world. I also do not own ANYTHING by Aerosmith (who sing the song "Dude, Looks like a Lady") or "Miss Congeniality" (the "You think I'm Gorgeous" song)—except the DVD, which is freakin' hilarious.

BETA Special:

::is watching Inuyasha and BETA-ing at the same time::

Iyo ::sigh:: I'm so tired . . . so very . . . tired . . . hahaha!

"I can't believe I'm doing this . . . I'll just have to leave my textbooks behind!"

That's a Kat line . . . anyway, onto the BETA stuff. Any spelling errors remaining are mine, and ooh . . . Miroku. . .::forgets what she was writing::

KAT: ::smack::

Kyaa! That hurt T.T Sorry . . . look! Sesshoumaru in black leather!

KAT: Where? ::turns, and stops:: Meg . . .

Gotta run!


	11. Skittles and Marshmallows

::authoress comes out onto stage and bows very, very low::

I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry ;; I know, I know. . . I haven't updated in two months, but fear not! For here is yet another happy chapter of Okaeri Nasai.

And this is a gift for all of you wonderful, wonderful reviewers who haven't forgotten about this happy little tale—

And now, as I have nothing else to say—

Okaeri Nasai

Chapter Eleven—Skittles and Marshmallows

—_Naraku's Castle—_

Naraku watched Kanna's mirror, eyes expressionless, as Koroshiya turned one of the strange girls into a cat. Suddenly he smiled.

"I suppose those girls are not truly that powerful," he said to himself, "for them to fall victim to that fool Koroshiya."

"You sent the Beast Tamer to deal with some little girls?" Naraku's eyes flicked to Kagura, who was fanning herself casually from the doorway. "Aren't you putting an awful lot of effort into these three?"

"You underestimate your opponent, Kagura," Naraku said. "It is a foolish mistake."

Kagura allowed herself a smile. _They must have come close to beating him if he's so on edge. . . I wonder, how badly was he embarrassed in front of Inu-yasha?_ she thought.

"Naraku." Kagura and Naraku turned to Kanna, who was looking down at her mirror.

Within it, Koroshiya was kneeling down, reaching for something silver . . . and then he screamed as he dissolved. A pool of acid simmered where his body had been.

Kagura closed her fan with a snap, eyes wide. "What the hell. . ."

Naraku was also stunned. Looking closely into the mirror, he stared at what Koroshiya had been reaching for . . . a ring? He leaned back, mind racing.

_This is unexpected . . . whatever powers these girls possess . . . this is the first I have ever . . . what being could cause a youkai to die in such a way using such a small object?_

The door to his rooms slammed open, disrupting his thoughts.

Kaguya gracefully stalked over to him. "Naraku," she said, her tone addressing him in the same one might use if talking to a slug. "I am getting impatient. When will we put this plan of yours into action?"

Naraku snorted softly. "You are as impatient as my incarnation," he said, flicking a glance at Kagura, who glowered.

Kaguya gritted her teeth. "How dare you put me in the same category as you and your little puppets," she growled.

"Why you—" Kagura held her fan threateningly, but Naraku held up a hand.

"Enough," he said. "Kaguya, your restlessness has been taken into account. However, there are several . . . recent occurrences that require my attention."

"Ah, yes." Kaguya brushed an invisible speck of dust from her beautiful robes. "I have heard of the strangers that have recently joined the Inu-tachi. And," she cast a sly glance at him. "I heard a rumour that they put a few rips in that little pelt of yours."

Naraku carefully kept his face neutral. "I wonder who would dare spread such a rumour." He rose from the floor, staring levelly into Kaguya's eyes. "Rest assured, our plan will begin . . . in fact, in light of these events, I have decided that we will proceed immediately."

"Have you?" Kaguya raised an eyebrow, acting bored, but Naraku knew that she was just as eager to rise to power as he was.

"Indeed." Naraku flicked his eyes back to Kanna's mirror, at the pool of acid that was Koroshiya, and the ring that sat in the grass beside a pile of clothes.

_Yes . . ._ he thought. _It would be wise to continue quickly, before whatever force is helping those girls decides to fully reveal itself. _

---

Outside of Naraku's palace, Kameko Haru sighed. She was situated on a mountainside, carefully watching the events inside the castle via her orb.

"Naraku," she said softly. "Are you really that much of an idiot?"

Her thoughts then turned to a few minutes earlier, when that fool of a youkai Beast Tamer had touched Kat's ring. How was she supposed to help those girls if someone stole her gifts?

"And I wonder how Kat will get out this situation. . ." Kameko Haru studied the cloudy sky above for a few moments, then looked back down at her orb. It couldn't really hurt to look. . .

Bluish-silver smoke swirled for a few minutes, then cleared. Kameko Haru blinked, and then laughed.

"Oh my. . ."

---

(Back in the forest. . .)

"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!"

"Jesus, Meg," Akkiko said, rubbing her ear. "D'you want to attract every demon in this forest?"

"Kat's been gone for too long," Meg snapped. "I'm getting worried."

"Can you worry a little quieter, wench?" Inu-yasha said, hands over his ears.

They had left Sesshomaru behind in the clearing; Kat had not returned, and staying with the youkai was not conductive to finding her.

"Even if she was embarrassed as hell, she wouldn't have wandered that far," Meg reasoned. "She gets lost too easy."

"This from the girl who acquired her mother's sense of direction?" Akkiko muttered.

"Shut up! You're the one who went to the wrong class in Grade Seven, and had to run out halfway through!"

They glowered at each other for several minutes before sighing and continuing their search.

"Kat, where are you?" Meg called. Suddenly she tripped.

"Oy, Meg, can you get any klutzier?" Akkiko asked.

"It isn't my fault—something was in my way—"" Meg looked down and saw—

"Aw, what a cute little kitten," Kagome said, picking it up. It was small with a long tail and ginger-colored fur. Green eyes stared reproachfully at Meg, and it sat up in Kagome's arms and hissed.

"Hey, look at that," Akkiko said. "It has an ankh on its chest, just like Kat's necklace."

Sure enough, there was a silver patch on the cat's chest in the shape of the Egyptian cross.

::It would be there:: Kat thought ::Can't you guys see it's me? Come on—Kat disappears, kitten randomly appears—put two and two together, you morons! I mean, how many kittens are there wandering around Feudal Japan?::

"Well, it's a cute cat," Sango said. Kirara purred on her shoulder. "And Kirara seems to like her."

"Yeah," Meg said sardonically. "They can have in-depth conversations about tuna fish, maybe."

::MEGG!!!!:: Kat hissed.

"Whoa," Akkiko said, backing away. She had been about to pet it. "I don't think it likes me."

"Why don't we give it a name?" Kagome said.

"Why do we need to keep it around?" Inu-yasha grumbled. "It'll just be a nuisance."

"It's cute!" Kagome said. "And we can't just leave the poor thing on its own!"

::Like you COULD!:: Kat grumbled.

"I dunno," Akkiko commented. "I'm more of a dog person myself . . ."

"By 'dog' do you mean . . ." Miroku looked suggestively at Inu-yasha.

-WHACK!!- "I love siblings," Akkiko grumbled.

"Why don't we call her Skittles?" Meg suggested. Everyone stared at her.

"Skittles?" Akkiko said flatly. "Why Skittles?"

"I don't know," Meg said. "I like Skittles?"

Kagome sighed, and held the cat up. "How do you like that, kitty? Skittles the Cat."

::MEG I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!::

Akkiko looked thoughtfully at the newly-dubbed Skittles. "It may be my imagination, but I think that cat is holding back some serious killing instinct."

"Come on," Meg said. "Kat obviously isn't around here. Maybe she went back to the clearing where Mr. Sunshine is . . . for some, ah, 'quality time'." Enter Meg's evil grin.

Skittles the cat sat up and hissed.

::HOW DARE SHE!!::

The group tramped back to where Sesshomaru was waiting. While they were gone, Rin and Jaken had shown up.

"Aww!!" Rin burst out when she saw Kat—or rather, Skittles. "Kitty!"

"What is that?" Sesshomaru said.

"It's called a kitten," Meg answered coolly. "By the way, have you seen Kat?"

Sesshomaru's face did not change, nor did he seem to hear the kitsune.

"You know, the girl you like, can grow wings, et cetera . . . You're not listening." Meg sighed.

"Oh, can I hold it, please?" Rin asked Kagome.

"Sure," she said. "Her name is Skittles."

::ARGH!!::

"Skittles!" Rin giggled. "It's cute!" Taking Skittles the Cat in her arms, she kissed her on the top of her head. Skittles immediately relaxed and started purring. Dammit, she did have a soft spot for this kid. . .

"She likes you," Kagome said kindly. Rin smiled, and ran over to Sesshomaru.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" she said. "Give Skittles a kiss?"

Sesshomaru looked mildly at the cat, but did not move to aquiest.

"Oh PLEASE?" Rin turned on the puppy eyes. Sesshomaru sighed, taking Skittles from the young girl's arms.

"Yay!"

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that cat was blushing," Akkiko mused.

Sesshomaru gave Skittles a small kiss on the forehead, and a rather large cloud of 'magic change' appeared, leaving him kissing a fur-free forehead. He did the only thing he could think of—he dropped it.

Meg, Akkiko, Inu-yasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Shippo's jaws dropped open at about the same time the form hit the ground.

The cloud was not dissolving at the rate it should, but while only her silhouette was visible, Kat wasn't an idiot.

::flashback::

Kat dropped her spear as the lightening hit her, searing her skin and causing her to cry out—then it seemed like her skin was shrinking, shrinking until it was all stretched and—

The pain stopped. Kat plopped to the floor, feeling her clothes slip off of her.

::end::

Oh. Shit.

Meg and Akkiko rushed forward. "Kagome, do you have a blanket in your backpack?" Meg called over her shoulder.

Kagome blinked; she had left her backpack and bike hidden in the bushes near where they had defeated the spiked demon. She looked at Inu-yasha, intent on having him go after it. His face was slowly turning the color of . . . his . . . clothes . . .

"Inu-yasha, take this off," she said, pulling at the fire-rat haori. Inu-yasha flashed her an annoyed glance.

"What for?" he snapped.

"Come on," Kagome yelled, pulling harder. "Be a gentleman!"

"Excuse me."

Meg, Kat and Akkiko looked down at Rin, who was holding a long piece of cloth.

She smiled. "Sesshomaru-sama told me to give this to you, Kat-sama!"

All eyes travelled across the clearing to where Sesshomaru was standing; he had removed his armour and was now just wearing a plain white haori.

Kat felt herself go red again, as she put on the silk kimono. She gingerly walked across the clearing. "Um. . ." she fidgeted as she bowed to Sesshomaru's back. "Th-thank you very much, Sesshomaru-sama."

Sesshomaru turned back slightly, meeting her eyes. He nodded, and then walked away. Rin and Jaken (who was struggling to hold all of his lord's armour) ran after him. Kat coughed as she straightened. Who had been on 'magical change' tech that day? They deserved a raise.

Meg suddenly grinned evilly. "So . . . Kat . . . Betcha enjoyed that kiss . . . that is so cute—the kitty and the puppy!"

Kat went bright red. "Oh, yeah? Well, at least it's not the fox-demon and the lecherous monk!"

Meg stopped laughing and glared. The two girls were silent for a moment, and then. . .

"Skittles!"

"Bubblegum!"

"Katsup!"

"Megitos!"

"Overachiever!"

"Mom!"

Shippo looked up, blinking. "Did she just call you Mom? Does that mean that I'm related to her and Sango?"

"What? NO!!" Meg and Kat said at the same time.

"Mom? Does that mean you're not—" Miroku didn't get a chance to finish.

Meg went red. "WHAT KIND OF A GIRL DO YOU THINK I AM, YOU JERK?!" She said, pulling out her trusty frying pan. Two seconds later, Miroku was flying across the clearing.

"Stupid bitch," Inu-yasha commented. "So, are you?"

Little flames erupted behind Meg. "OF COURSE I'M STILL A VIRGIN!!"

Kagome, sensing the impending explosion sat him.

---

Several hours later, the whole gang had returned to the well. Inu-yasha was less than happy about this.

"Kagome said that she sensed a jewel shard!" he snapped. "Why are we going in the opposite direction?!"

Meg glared at him. "Kat go around in a short little kimono like that," she snapped back, waving at Kat, who was perched to jump into the well.

"I'll be right back," Kat said, sweatdropping a little. "I'll just grab some clothes and we can get going."

"Not really much point," Miroku said. "The sun will be setting soon. We might as well start fresh in the morning." He smiled at Kat. "You can take your time in coming back." He sidled over to Meg. "In the mean time, I know a lovely spot where we can watch the stars, Meg-chan."

Meg raised an eyebrow at him. "Hey, Kat, mind if I come with you?" Silence. "Kat?"

She was already gone. Meg glowered as she heard laughter come from the well, which was cut off as light shone from within.

"That little bitch," she muttered, tweaking Miroku's nose. "Watch those hands, houshi-sama."

Miroku laughed, scratching the back of his head; he brought the hand that had been making its way to Meg's bottom behind his back.

---

(in the modern era)

Kat had emerged from the well and was now dressed in fresh jeans and sweat shirt. After a moment's consideration, she grabbed her backpack and packed a change of clothes as well, lest anymore shape-shifting psychos decided to change her into any other variety of wildlife.

So now she was ready to return to the feudal era. She poised herself on top of the well. And she jumped.

Now, normally pretty lights were supposed to appear out of nowhere, the bottom of the well was supposed to fade into non-existence, and then re-solidify in the feudal era as she gently touched down on terra firma.

Why, then, did she land painfully at the bottom of the well, still in the modern era?!

Kat sat up, rubbing her ankle, very confused. Why hadn't it worked this time? Kameko Haru had given them all the ability to travel to and from the feudal era, so why not now . . .

Kat blinked and looked down at her hand. Her ring was gone. She gulped; it had probably fallen off when. . .

She hated demons. She really, _really_ hated demons . . . Well, _some_ demons . . .

Miroku had said that it was okay to stay overnight. Kat bit her lip; how long would it take them to come get her? It was already darkening outside.

And there was something else—Kameko Haru had mentioned a bond that the three girls had. That was what gave Kat her demon-esque appearance; that was what made her stronger than any average human. Even if Meg or Akkiko did help her through the well, what would happen if she didn't become a demon again? What if the ring was all that held the bond together.

This was not good.

---

(back in the feudal era, at Kaede's hut)

"I've been thinking," Akkiko said.

"I smell smoke," Meg grinned.

Shooting her a dirty look, Akkiko continued, "What happened before Inu-yasha got the Tetsusaiga?"

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked.

"You know, what attacks did he use?" Akkiko looked over where Inu-yasha had been coerced into splitting firewood.

"Um . . . He usually used an attack called 'Iron Reader Soul Cleaver' . . . Oh! When he was fighting against Yura the first time he used an attack 'Blades of Blood'."

Meg winced as she saw the look in Akkiko's eyes.

"Sweet!" Akkiko jumped up and ran over to Inu-yasha. Grabbing his sleeve, she said, "Come on—you're going to teach me your attacks!"

Meg sighed and called, "Akkiko, I don't think that's such a good idea."

Akkiko raised a suggestive eyebrow at her. "Aren't you supposed to be stargazing with a certain brother of mine?"

Meg blushed a little. "Maybe . . . but! I was actually just going to check on Kat."

"Oh yeah. She hasn't come back yet."

"Kya!" Meg and Akkiko jumped as Kagome leapt up. "I just remember I have a huge physics project due in two days!" She grabbed her backpack and started running towards the forest.

"Hey!" Inu-yasha yelled, and ran after her. "Where do you think you're going?!" Unfortunately, he forgot that Akkiko was still hanging on to his sleeve, and dragged her along with him.

Meg blinked, and sighed. Waving to Miroku, Shippo and Sango, she called, "Be right back!"

---

(in the south)

Sesshomaru paced around the clearing where he had transformed Kat with a kiss. What the hell had happened? How had she been cursed to turn into an animal? Why did he care?

"Meelord," Jaken approached him cautiously. "I must ask, Meelord Sesshomaru, who was that girl from this afternoon? And why have we returned to this place?"

Sesshomaru was silent. "That is not your concern." He trailed off as he smelled the air. Something burned not far from here . . . and the girl, Kat; her scent also carried off in that direction.

Sesshomaru silently made his way through the trees, followed closely by Rin and a very confused Jaken. As the burning smell became stronger, he could also sense youkai . . . dead youkai.

He entered a clearing and his eyes wandered to a pile of clothing; reaching for it he found the material to be very strange, and smelling like the girl Kat. And right beside the clothing was—

"Rin, stay back," he said, and the girl squeaked and jumped back.

"Sesshomaru-sama, what is that?" she asked, staring at the pool of liquid that bubbled slightly and smelled of burning flesh.

He remained silent; Rin took a few hesitant steps forward, and something caught her eye. There was something shining between the pool and the clothing. "What's that, Sesshomaru-sama?" she said, pointing.

Sesshomaru looked down and picked up a ring; he felt a slight shock run up his arm and almost dropped it. What the. . .

"Rin, do not touch this," Sesshomaru said, dropping the ring. "It is cursed."

"Oh!" Rin said. "But, Sesshomaru-sama . . . do you think that these may belong to that girl . . . Kat?"

Jaken harrumphed. "Rin, do not bother his lord with such matters. That . . . girl is of no concern to you." He nodded haughtily, then squawked as Sesshomaru stepped on his back.

"Come, Rin." Sesshomaru started off once again. The ring had also smelled of the girl, but Jaken was right (for once). She was of no concern to him. She was . . . nothing?

Rin watched Sesshomaru retreat; she looked from the pool of acid and clothes to his back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Something flashed from far off and her skin tingled.

Snapping her eyes open, Rin blinked and looked down at her clenched hand. Opening it, she gasped as she saw the ring that had been on the ground seconds before. How had. . .

Without knowing why, Rin looked to her left, across the clearing. There stood a woman with long hair, golden in color, and pale skin. The child looked into the woman's deep blue eyes; the woman smiled and nodded.

Rin was silent; she nodded back. Then she turned and trotted off.

Sesshomaru stopped after a few moments; he didn't hear Rin's usual skipping or humming. Looking back, he sighed a little when he didn't see her. Jaken bumped into him, not realizing he had stopped.

"Meelor—" Jaken fell over as Sesshomaru stepped over him and doubled back. The little toad-like demon blinked and it clicked at what his master was going after. "That troublesome human," he muttered, dusting himself off and hurrying after Sesshomaru.

---

(at the well in the feudal era)

Rin scrambled through the clearing, panting a little. She headed towards a weathered well in the centre; reaching it, she took a deep breath.

_I hope Sesshomaru-sama is not too cross with me,_ she thought as she clambered up.

"Rin!" She blinked as she heard Jaken's cry; but she had already jumped, so it wasn't like she could answer him. But she did feel a small hand clamp onto the neck of her kimono.

Jaken held on bravely; but you and I both know that he couldn't possibly hang onto a human that was more than twice his height. Hence, he started to fall into the well after the human child.

"AUGH!! Meelord, save me!" he squawked, grabbing onto a corner of Sesshomaru's haori.

Sesshomaru blinked; why on earth had Rin come to this spot? His brother's scent was thick around here; his, and that girl Kagome he always travelled with. Both were fresh.

In any case, he knew wasn't going to be pulled into a well by a toad demon and a little girl.

He was surprised as he felt a hand on his back; he had not sensed anything or anybody approaching, and yet someone had to be there—he was even more surprised as the hand pushed him forward (with seemingly no effort), causing him to topple ungracefully into the well.

Light shone from the bottom of the well, and Kameko Haru smiled.

---

(in the modern era, at Kagome's house)

"What do you mean you lost your ring?!" Inu-yasha yelled. "That had a jewel shard in it, didn't it?"

Kat nodded, biting her lip.

Meg sighed irritably and smacked the hanyou upside the head. "It isn't her fault that it slipped off when that psycho demon turned her into a cat!" she said sharply.

Inu-yasha glared at her. "She should have realized she lost it sooner! By now, some weak little demon has already picked it up!" He growled and stomped away, fuming.

Kagome shrugged. "Not that it makes much difference; I have homework to do, so we won't be going back tonight."

"Yeah, but. . ." Kat looked at Meg and Akkiko's rings. "Kameko Haru gave us these . . . I think they are what connect us to the past, strengthen our bonds, and give us our demon powers."

"So now that Kat's ring is gone. . ." Akkiko blinked. "That bond may be broken."

"Well, Kagome can sense jewel shards," Meg said, waving her hand casually. "We'll just find Kat's ring again, and everything will be okay!"

Suddenly Inu-yasha ran back into the room. He looked more pissed off than usual. "Sesshomaru is here!"

Silence.

Kagome dropped her physics textbook with a thunk. "What?! How do you know?"

"His scent just popped up. How the hell did he—" Inu-yasha reached the door, and was just about to open it to jump into the yard, when—

"Kagome!" Meg and Akkiko yelled at the same time.

"Inu-yasha—SIT!!"

As the hanyou went down, Meg sighed. "We can't have you and that brother of yours destroying Kagome's house, you idiot!" She turned to Kat. "Go see what he wants."

Kat flushed. "Why me?"

"Because you like him. He likes you. It works."

"But—"

"Go get him!" Without warning, Meg pushed Kat out into the yard. There stood Sesshomaru, Rin and Jaken, all coming out of the mini-shrine. Oh lord.

"Kat-sama!" Rin said cheerfully, waving. "We found you."

"Eh?" Kat blinked, very confused. "Rin . . . how on earth did you get here?"

"I found this!" Rin said, waving something in her hand. "It's yours, I think!"

"Mine?" As Kat approached, Rin blinked and suddenly turned shy. She turned and ran to Sesshomaru.

"You give it to her, my lord!" she said, smiling. It was in his hand before he could say a word, and Rin was hiding behind him.

Kat blinked as Sesshomaru met her gaze; she could hear snickering behind her. Sesshomaru extended his hand.

"This is yours, is it not?"

Kat looked at his hand. There was her ring. Her eyes widened. "Oh my God!" She took it and slipped it on. A tingle ran through her skin; behind her, Meg and Akkiko felt the same thing. The bond was complete once more.

Kat looked up at Sesshomaru, beaming. She bowed, saying, "Thank you so much, Sesshomaru-sama!"

Meg popped up beside her. "And now I'm sure Sesshomaru-sama would like a lovely escort home!" she said cheerfully. "Go on, Kat!"

Kat coughed a little. _Ooh, see if someone doesn't find a large hairy spider in her bed tonight_, she thought hotly as she turned back to the three guests. "If you'll follow me."

Leading them into the shrine, she smiled down at Rin. "Here, take my hand," she said. Looking at Jaken and Sesshomaru, she continued, "You'll all have to hold onto me."

Jaken snorted. Sesshomaru glared at him, and he reluctantly held onto Kat's pant leg as she perched on the well. Sesshomaru put a hand on her shoulder, and they all jumped.

Climbing out on the other side, Rin beamed. "Amazing! We are back in the clearing!" She turned to Kat. "I am glad I was able to return your ring, Kat-sama."

Kat smiled at her. "And I thank you for returning it, Rin-chan." She caught Sesshomaru's eye and blushed. Bowing again, she mumbled, "I am in your debt as well."

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. While in that other world, Kat had looked like any other human (although she still dressed oddly), but now she looked more like a demon. Her friends were the same. How could these girls change what they were with no effort whatsoever?

In any case, he wasn't going to worry about it. He probably wouldn't see her again. "Consider your debt repaid," he said. "I do not require your services."

"But—" Kat gulped and went on. "Nevertheless, I owe you. The next time we meet, I may be able to help you."

Sesshomaru turned around.

"What is it you think you can do for this Sesshomaru?" he asked calmly. Kat was right behind him. On an impulse he hadn't known was there, he spun and pressed his lips to hers—hard—for an instant before stepping away.

Before she knew it, he was gone. Rin and Jaken (still shocked to the point of speechlessness) hurried after him. Kat touched her lips, and smiled, just a little.

---

(Back in the modern era, at Kagome's house)

Kat, Meg and Akkiko lounged on Kagome's bed, Akkiko staring at the ceiling, bored, Meg listening to her Discman and Kat reading. Kagome sat on the floor, drinking some pop, physics homework spread on her crossed legs and the floor. Across from her was Inu-yasha, slurping some ramen noodles from his cup.

Chewing, he grunted, "I still can't believe that Sesshomaru actually gave back your ring."

"Maybe he did it 'cause Rin was watching," Akkiko said. "He seems to have a soft spot only for her."

"Naw." They all turned to Kat. She was blushing gently. "I think that beneath the hard exterior, Sesshomaru is just a big marshmallow."

A moment later, Inu-yasha was wearing soda. Kagome wiped her mouth and stared at Kat. Then she started laughing very, very hard.

Kat blinked and looked at Meg and Akkiko, who were staring at her with disbelieving expressions.

Inu-yasha shook himself semi-dry and turned to Kat (since no one was going to get an answer out of Kagome for a while).

"So . . . what's a marshmallow?"

Okay—I was meaning for this to be done for Christmas. Obviously that didn't happen -.-;; So, now this is a New Year's present—and once again, I apologize for the two month disappearance. (Surprisingly, I did not receive any death threats . . . my friends must be sick with something )

And now, I feel the need to explain what I like to fondly call the "insult scene" . . . in other words, when Meg and Kat are yelling at each other. Because this is comprised of inside jokes, I find this explanation necessary:

"Skittles!"—this comes from a quiz (What Candy Are You?) I took on , and, you guessed it—I got Skittles -.-;; Same for "Bubblegum!", which is what Meg got (wonder what Akkiko would get. . .)

"Katsup!" and "Megitos!"—Akkiko has a habit of coming up with nicknames that make us twitch. These are just two of them (there are many, many more ::twitch::)

"Overachiever!"—a-heh-heh. Okay, so I'm obsessed with my schoolwork (Akkiko, Meg, don't you damn dare say a word!!!) That's where this comes from.

"Mom!"—Meg has a habit of watching out for her friends. She even goes as far as paying for their lunch if they happen to forget theirs . . . or if they make the mistake of not eating breakfast. Hence, mother hen—Mom.

Okay, so—that's another chapter; I hope you enjoyed it, I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas (I know I did) and I wish everyone a Happy New Year! Please review and all that jazz!

Disclaimer: Come on people—do I really need to say this again? ::eyes lawyers and sighs:: Okay, fine. I do not own Inu-yasha, nor do I own any characters/events/objects/places affiliated with Inu-yasha; that all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, the genius who created the ::cough, cough:: loveable hanyou and all his loveable friends ;;

PS—As always, kudos and chocolate-covered coffee beans to Meg, who works wonders on my ::cough:: otherwise pretty crappy writing ;; Thank-you forever, girl!!


	12. Randomness

:authoress peeks out onto stage: Erm. . .hi:ducks assorted pointy objects:

Okay, okay—yes, I realize that I haven't updated in a while—

Meg: 'A while!' Try three frickin' months!

.-;; At least I haven't gotten _that_ many death threats. . .

And so, since I probably shouldn't put it off any longer, here's chapter twelve—thank-you once again to everyone who reviewed.

Oh, and as a final note, since the only reason I haven't updated is because I have had writer's block—damn you, inspiration fairy!—and I am still not _over_ said writer's block. . .this chapter is an amalgamation of several scenes that just kinda. . .popped into my head. In other words, it doesn't really have anything to do with the story, but has a pinch of plot tossed in for good measure ;;

Okaeri Nasai

Chapter 12—Randomness

"Kat?" Poke, poke, poke. "Kaaaaaaat?"

Kat mumbled something as Meg and Akkiko loomed over her sleeping form.

"Good grief, is she going to sleep all day?" Kagome asked.

"Looks bloody like it," Inu-yasha grumbled, balanced on Kagome's bed's baseboard.

Akkiko grinned. "I know what'll wake her up!" She leaned down to Kat's ear and whispered, "Hey, Kat. . ._spider on your face_!"

Meg screamed. Inu-yasha fell off the bed. Kagome sighed. Akkiko rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah. . .that only works on Meg. My bad."

Kat sat up, blearily rubbing her eyes. "Wha?"

Inu-yasha pulled himself off the floor, a goose-bump on his head. He glared at Meg. "Did you have to scream like that, bitch?"

Meg scowled back at him. "I don't like spiders, okay!" She glared at Akkiko. "That was dirty, Akkiko."

Akkiko smiled. "I'm sorry, but—omigod, there's a spider on your shoulder!"

Meg screamed again, then glared at Akkiko and leapt at her. Unfortunately, Kat had sat up at that exact moment. Meg crashed into her; Kat gave an 'oof!' and was rammed into Akkiko, who shrieked as the three fell into an uncoordinated pile of arms, legs and pillows.

Inu-yasha stared, an incredulous expression on his face. "How the hell can those three act so stupid all the time, and yet be such great fighters?"

"Um. . ." Kagome sweatdropped, smiling awkwardly as Kat, Meg and Akkiko started to untangled themselves.

"Erg—the blanket's wrapped around my neck—Akkiko, stop pulling!"

"Oops, sorry."

"There was something very unsympathetic about that sorry. . ."

"Shut up, Kat."

"Akkiko, you're still pulling!"

"Sorry—Kat, watch your—ow! You poked me in the eye!"

"My bad—Meg, don't move—kya!"

"Kagome, breakfast is ready," Mrs. Higurashi said, passing the door with a smile and (wisely) ignoring the continuing curses and cries of pain taking place on her daughter's bedroom floor.

* * *

:one hour later:

The group emerged from the well. Kat, unfortunately, after the initial shock she had experienced of waking up, had fallen back asleep. Akkiko was currently carrying her, piggy-back style.

"Someone tell me why I'm doing this?"

"Because you volunteered," Meg said placidly.

"No, _you_ volunteered me!" Akkiko snapped, laying Kat on the grass.

"Good morning!" The group looked up to see Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara coming towards them.

"'Good morning', is a contradiction of terms," Akkiko said, scowling.

"You're just grumpy 'cuz Kat poked you in the eye," Meg said, kneeling beside said friend and poking her repeatedly. "Kat, wake up. Kat? Wake up. Kat? Wake up. Wake up. Kat, wake up. Wake up, Kat. Come on, Kat, wake up. . ."

Things went on in this vein for a while until Kat calmly said, "Meg, poke me one more time and I will hurt you. Painfully." She sat up once more, again rubbing her eyes.

Shippo, who had been observing his big sister, grinned as Meg went over to the others to discuss where they were going to go today. He went up to Kat and began . . . experimenting.

Poke. . .poke, poke. "Shippo, please stop it."

Poke, poke, poke. "Shippo. . ."

Poke, poke, poke. Kat raised her hand, one long-nailed finger pointed at Shippo. One look at those claws and the little kitsune's hand slowly dropped.

Then he turned around and ran, crying, to Meg.

"Nee-chan! Kat's scaring me!"

Meg petted his head. "It's okay," she said in a soothing voice. Then she glared at Kat. "Kat, stop scaring my little brother."

Akkiko popped up, an evil grin on her face. "Meg, stop snogging my older brother."

Miroku and Meg went bright pink.

"What do you have against me and cute monks?" Meg snapped.

"Oh, nothing—I just have something against you and my brother, who is a cute monk!"

Kat popped up. "Hey, I just thought of something—if Miroku's a monk. . .shouldn't Akkiko be a priestess?"

Akkiko blinked. "But . . . but . . . that would mean I would have to _innocent_!"

Meg sat down. "Akkiko . . . innocent? Brain . . . overload! Cannot—compute!" Meg head swivelled like a bobble-head, her eyes squiggles.

"Whoa, Meg, don't blow a fuse," Kat cautioned

"It's too late for that," Akkiko said, shaking her head.

"Yes, now if you're all quite done, can we get going?" Inu-yasha snapped.

There was light-hearted agreement, and the group started down the same path they had gone yesterday. As the sun rose, the going was peaceful; no one was on the road, and Kagome did not sense any jewel shards. Nothing attacked them, and for a while it was just nice to walk, enjoy the sun and the cool breeze.

Around mid-afternoon, the forest broke and they could see a small village clustered around a river.

"We should see about getting some supplies," Miroku said. "Meg, would you like to accompany me?"

"Sure!" Meg said, coming forward. Then she stopped. "Er. . .maybe first I should. . ." She blushed, awkwardly pointing at her ears.

"Here, Meg," Kat said, rummaging in her backpack and pulling out a kerchief. "You can cover your hair—and your ears—with this."

"Why don't we all just go?" Inu-yasha asked, but Akkiko elbowed him in the ribs.

"We'll be waiting right here!" Akkiko said, waving. "See you two later!"

Meg and Miroku waved as they started down the path to the village. As they went, they unconsciously took each other's hands.

Reaching the village, Miroku pointed out a small outdoor vendor who was selling smoked fish. After bartering for a while, Miroku noticed that prices were higher than normal for the season. When asked about the sudden inflation, the vendor sighed.

"We have had a hard time. Up river there is a huge bear demon. It has been eating almost all the fish. We find our nets torn to shreds and our lines smashed."

"A bear demon?" Meg said, drawing closer. "Maybe it has a jewel shard."

"Kagome didn't say anything about sensing a shard, though," Miroku said.

"Rumor is that the bear lives in a den deep in the woods." The vendor waved in the direction of the road leading out of the village. "The den is underground, where the bear is cool and can escape the hot afternoon sun. It only comes out in the mornings or evenings." The man's face became sad. "We are a peaceful village. . .but a poor one. We do not have the weapons to rid ourselves of the beast, nor do we have the funds to hire demon slayers."

Meg sniffed in sympathy, patting the man's shoulder. She smiled at him. "Listen, if you give us the supplies we need, we'll get rid of the demon for you—free of charge."

A light of hope sprung up in the man's eyes, but he looked doubtful. "Just the two of you?" he asked, staring at the monk and the oddly-dressed girl.

"Oh, no," Miroku said, laughing. "We have several other companions, and I assure you, a bear demon will be easy to get rid of." _I hope_, he thought, a trickle of sweat running down his face.

The man's face broke into a smile. "We will give whatever you ask!" he said, disappearing into his shop to gather their order.

Miroku smiled at Meg. "That was very nice of you," he said, "volunteering us."

Meg shrugged, watching two small children run by. "If we don't deal with this now, who knows when that demon will come into the village to feed."

Miroku also watched the children. ". . .Meg?"

"Yes?"

Miroku stared at her for a few moments, then shook his head and pecked her on the cheek. "Never mind."

A sudden scream made the two look up. A young fisherman ran through the streets, yelling, "The bear demon has awoken! He is prowling around the village outskirts! Run! Hide! We must get away!"

The fish vendor came out, bewildered. "B-but why?" he asked, fear clouding his eyes. "It is far too hot—the beast should not. . . it never emerges in the afternoon!"

Meg and Miroku glanced at each other. "Naraku?" Meg whispered.

Miroku looked grim. "We should get back to the others."

And with that, they raced down the road.

* * *

Kagome stretched in the sunlight, yawning. "This is such a nice spot," she said. "We should have a picnic when Meg and Miroku get back!"

Shippo was snoozing beneath a tree. Up in the branches, Inu-yasha was also dozing. Kat and Akkiko had brought out a deck of cards and were playing on a smooth tree trunk. Sango sat nearby, cleaning Hiraikotsu, Kirara by her side.

Kagome continued chattering happily, but stopped when she felt something pulse a long way off.

Kat and Akkiko looked over. "What's wrong Kagome? Why'd you stop?"

"I'm sensing a jewel shard," Kagome said. "It just. . .appeared." She looked across the field at the forest that lay outside the village. "Something's coming."

Kat and Akkiko gathered up their cards calmly. They stood by Kagome, staring at the forest.

"Want me to go check it out?" Kat said, holding up her feather.

"That sounds good," Akkiko said, nodding.

In a flurry of wind and feathers, Kat was off.

"Should we get Meg and Miroku?" Akkiko asked, eyeing the village.

"They should be back soon," Sango said, hefting Hiraikotsu over her shoulder and staring after Kat. "I'm sure we'll be fine without them.

"Okay." Akkiko turned and grimaced; Inu-yasha hadn't moved. "Oy! Sleepyhead!" Leaping up onto the same branch, Akkiko leaned in until her face was only an inch away from Inu-yasha's. "Wake up. We'll be getting some action soon."

Inu-yasha opened one eye. "What did you do?"

Akkiko smacked him upside the head. "I didn't do anything, jerk. Now get down here." And with that she leapt to the ground, drawing her swords. "Kagome, d'you have any idea what we're dealing with?"

Kagome shook her head. "I can only sense when a jewel shard is close by. I can't tell what kind of creature is using it."

"There's Kat!" Sango said, pointing. Kat landed, looking very freaked-out.

"So what is it?" Akkiko asked.

"A big—frickin'—bear," Kat said, enunciating each word with a wince as she drew her spear. "It seems to be heading straight for us, but I'm not sure if it'll go for the village."

"There it is!" Kagome shrieked. By this point, Shippo had woken up and was cowering behind her.

The bear lumbered out of the forest at full speed. For a few agonizing minutes it veered close to the village, but then its snout pointed in their direction. It sniffed the breeze, and growled, shaking its shaggy head and loped towards them.

"Wow." Akkiko commented. "Big frickin' bear."

"That's what I said." Kat rolled her eyes.

"Inu-yasha, what are you doing?" Sango, Akkiko and Kat turned to see Kagome yelling up at Inu-yasha, who still hadn't come down from the tree.

"Honestly. . ." Kat rolled her eyes again. "Akkiko, tell your boyfriend to stop being so lazy."

"I'm busy—watch it!" The three, distracted for a few moments, scattered as the bear demon roared and tried to hit them with a huge paw.

"I think you girls can handle this," Inu-yasha said, and closed his eyes again, looking for all the world like he was asleep.

"OSUWARI!" :CRASH:

Everyone stared at Kagome, eyebrows raised. "What?" she said. "At least he's down here now."

Everyone blinked. "You know, she has a point." Kat said, then leapt into the air as the bear tried to take her out again. She winced as its claws caught her leg, tearing the material. Blood began to trickle out, causing the beast to go nuts.

"Shit!" Akkiko said, as the demon turned its sights on her. As it charged her, she leapt up, landing gracefully on the back of its neck, and scrambled over the shaggy coat. The bear blinked its weak eyes, confused.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango's weapon flew at it, clipping its shoulder. Kagome squinted; she could see a tiny sparkle beneath the fur. . .

"The jewel shard! It's on its left shoulder!" she called, helping Inu-yasha up.

"Ow. . .damn wench," the hanyou grumbled, throwing a glare in Kagome's direction, then picking up the sheathed Tetsusaiga. "I'll get rid of it in one go."

Drawing the transformed sword, Inu-yasha planted his feet as Kat distracted the bear, who tried to bat her from the air. Akkiko stabbed at its hind legs, causing it to turn, roaring once again.

"_Wing Scar_!" Streaks of light tore up the earth; one streak hit the bear demon in the middle, slicing it cleanly in half. Its death roar almost drowned out an exclamation of:

"_Kazaana_!" Miroku had just come over the hill leading down to the village; the wind tunnel emerged from his hand, devouring the pieces of the bear demon. The front half, however, was still hanging on.

"Hang on, Miroku," Kagome called, bringing out her bow. She fired an arrow, which went through the bear's torso; its left paw and shoulder dug into the earth as the rest of it was sucked into Miroku's arm.

"Well," Akkiko said cheerfully. "That was easy."

"Kat, you're bleeding!" Sango said.

"It's nothing, really. Kagome? Can you get out your First Aid kit?"

"Of course!" As Kagome and Sango busied themselves with bandaging Kat's leg, Akkiko went over to Miroku.

"So where's Meg?" she asked her brother.

"She stayed at the village for a few minutes to calm everyone down; we should probably stay there for the night." He glanced at the sun, which was beginning to turn orange in the late afternoon sky.

Inu-yasha sheathed Tetsusaiga with a sigh. He went and stomped down on the bear's leg, digging the jewel shard from its flesh. He had a bad feeling; as he listened to Miroku describe the terror the bear demon had inflicted, he looked over at the forest. Could Naraku have had something to do with the bear's attack? Or had the bear had the shard all along?

He took a sniff of the air; no dangerous scents, save for the bear's. And then another scent came to him. He blinked, staring at the forest with wide eyes. And then he started running across the field.

He didn't even notice Meg as she came up the hill; but she saw him, and seeing the battle was over, she decided to follow him.

* * *

Naraku cursed from where hiding place across the field. That stupid bear demon—he had approached the sleepy creature, and given it the jewel shard—yet another shard lost to the Inu-tachi.

Growling, Naraku stood and leapt to the ground. _I will not let them interfere again,_ he thought. His attention was turned as he became aware of someone walking towards him.

"Lord Naraku," Kameko Haru said, bowing slightly. Naraku, behind his baboon mask, blinked in surprise.

"Who are you?" he asked arrogantly.

"My name is Kameko Haru. I am a seer. . .and I have become aware of your plan." The oracle watched the half-demon carefully. "You will not get away with what you are planning. Those girls will not let you." She nodded in the direction of Inu-yasha and the others. "Their will is stronger than yours—all of their wills."

Naraku felt a flare of anger. "Then it is you that brought them here?" he spat. "Stay out of my way, Seer. I will not hesitate to kill you where you stand." Despite his bold words, he felt uneasy.

"That sounds like a challenge, Lord Naraku." Kameko Haru smiled; her eyes, however, were very cold. "Until next we meet, then." She turned to fade into the shadows.

Naraku grinned. "Fool, to turn your back," he muttered; tentacles exploded from his pelt and snaked their way to where Kameko Haru had been standing. They grasped nothing but air. Naraku scowled. Where had—

His thoughts were stilled as a new scent travelled to him on the breeze. Eyes widening with surprise, Naraku turned in the direction the scent was coming from. He smiled.

"So, Kikyo. . .come to see your Inu-puppy again?"

* * *

Kikyo walked through a forest, many days from the camp where she tended to injured soldiers. She had come because her soul carriers had told her of unrest between Inu-yasha and Naraku. Naraku had been far more active for the past few weeks; she was worried. And then there was the talk of the three new companions that were said to have come from the same world as her reincarnation.

Kikyo kept her guard up as she walked; the air of the forest was tense as the animals all scurried to their hiding holes. She had heard that the village nearby was being plagued by a large demon. The thought almost made her smile; what village wasn't plagued by some demon or another these days?

As she entered a clearing, she stopped to listen. No birds called; only the sound of the wind through the leaves met her ears. And then she heard hurried footsteps; making sure her arrows were in easy reach, Kikyo waited.

Inu-yasha emerged from the gloom of the foliage, his eyes picking out Kikyo with little difficulty. He said her name softly as he entered the clearing.

"Inu-yasha," Kikyo said, in a toneless voice. "I was hoping to see you."

"Huh? You—you were?"

"I came to warn you. Naraku has been extremely active lately. More demons are emerging; they all have jewel shards and claim to be rallying to his cause." Kikyo reached into her hakama and drew out three shards. She threw them on the forest floor. "I have no use for these. . . .so I will give them to you." She met Inu-yasha's eyes. "I hope you will be careful when you next face him. Naraku is planning something, without a doubt."

Inu-yasha, of course, knew all this, but the surprise of seeing Kikyo again was doing funny things to his head. He felt happy, but sad, and something nagged at the back of his mind. . .

As the silence dragged on, Kikyo turned and began to leave. Inu-yasha blinked and was about to call after her, but his mind landed on only one name. . .and it wasn't hers.

* * *

Kikyo walked down the path she had come, slightly seething. What had been wrong with Inu-yasha? He normally would have called after her, or tried to embrace her, or . . . something. Something other than just standing there. But he had looked distracted. . .by what?

Or by who?

Walking with a slight frown, Kikyo glanced up sharply as there was snap in the bushes to her left. Knocking an arrow, she shot it into the undergrowth.

Meg leapt out, gracefully flipping over the arrow, which disappeared into the foliage. Landing with her own arrow ready to fire, Meg stood in the middle of the path, blocking Kikyo.

"So, you're the undead priestess I've heard all about," she said, an intense dislike settling into her mind. Something about the woman rubbed her fur the wrong way.

Kikyo raised an eyebrow. "And you are?" she said, calm and ignoring the arrow aimed for her.

Meg lowered the arrow slightly. "I'm just a kitsune running with Inu-yasha's group," she said lightly. "And now that I've met you, I can think of a few things to say."

"I thought the fox clan was above eavesdropping," Kikyo said calmly, unsure of whether the fox-demon had, in fact been eavesdropping on her and Inu-yasha. The slight twitch of Meg's ear and the way her eyes narrowed confirmed it.

"Look, princess—" Meg stalked up to the priestess, placing her arrow back in its quiver. "First of all, you seem like a bitch, and I don't mean Inu-yasha's. Two, dead is a real turn-off, so what are you trying for? And finally, you're mackin' on the boy my best friend wants, and I just can't let you do that. So you have five seconds to leave and not come back before I kick your sorry ass."

Kikyo smiled coolly at the kitsune. "As you wish," she said mockingly, and side-stepped around Meg, continuing on her quiet way.

Meg bit back a growl. _Freaky bitch_, she thought, then turned and jumped into the trees. She leapt out of the cover when she had reached the clearing where Inu-yasha was still standing.

His eyes jerked up when she landed in front of him, an ugly expression on her face. "Meg. . . what are you doing—"

"What the _hell_ is going through your head, you jerk-off?" Meg shouted at him. "How can you meet with your ex-girlfriend—your _dead_ ex-girlfriend, no less—when you have a perfectly fine_ live_ one less than a kilometre away?"

Inu-yasha's face dropped; confusion, anger and hurt were reflected in his golden eyes. "You were. . .you listened? How dare you—"

"How dare I?" Meg puffed up with rage. "How dare _you_? Did you even think of what Akkiko would think, you traipsing off to hang with some dead chick? She really, really likes you, Inu-yasha. How could you meet Kikyo when you're going out with Akkiko?"

"But what if I don't want to out with her?" The foolish hanyou asked, half-joking.

:Two minutes later. . .:

"All right! All right! I'll do whatever you say! Just stop causing me bodily harm!"

"What I said to Sesshomaru about Kat applies to you too—If you hurt my little sister, I will not—hesitate—to hurt—you!" With each pause, Meg drove Inu-yasha's face a little further into the ground. Breathing hard with the effort, she continued. "And believe me, Kagome's 'osuwari' will seem like a slap on the wrist compared to the pain you will feel."

Stooping down to gather the jewel shards Inu-yasha hadn't yet touched, Meg glanced at him, her expression slightly softer. "Now let's get back to the others before they think we've been eaten by another bear demon."

* * *

Inu-yasha felt more than slightly guilty when they returned to the others; Meg made up a story about how Inu-yasha had followed the demon bear's scent to its den and found the jewel shards. Meg herself had spotted him and tagged along. Kagome, Kat, Akkiko and the others accepted the story, and the group settled down in the modest inn that stood at the edge of the thankful village. After a hot meal, everyone was looking forward to a quiet night.

Kat and Akkiko had brought out their deck of cards again and were playing with Meg; Shippo and Kirara were playing by the fire while Sango and Kagome had decided to use the hot baths offered by the host. Miroku was safely dozing, and Inu-yasha was sitting just outside the door, looking at the stars.

"Hey!" Akkiko said. "I just thought of something!" She threw down her hand and jumped up. Kat raised an eyebrow.

"Akkiko? You do realize you have a full house? That's a winning hand."

"Dammit!" Meg said, throwing down her two-pair.

"Whatever." Akkiko stalked over and opened the door wide. Inu-yasha jumped slightly and turned.

"What is it?" he asked, slightly creeped-out by the glare he was getting from the other hanyou.

"You never taught me your attacks!"

"Eh? What are you talking about?"

"You never taught me your attacks!"

"Oh yeah," Meg said. "Yesterday, while Kat was trapped in the modern era—before you ran off after Kagome, you know. . ."

:flashback:

"What happened before Inu-yasha got the Tetsusaiga?" Akkiko asked Kagome.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, what attacks did he use?" Akkiko looked over where Inu-yasha had been coerced into splitting firewood.

"Um . . . He usually used an attack called 'Iron Reaver Soul Stealer' . . . Oh! When he was fighting against Yura the first time he used an attack 'Blades of Blood'."

Meg winced as she saw the look in Akkiko's eyes.

"Sweet!" Akkiko jumped up and ran over to Inu-yasha. Grabbing his sleeve, she said, "Come on—you're going to teach me your attacks!"

:end:

"Oh. That." Inu-yasha let loose a 'feh'. "Why'd you bring this up now?"

"Because I completely forgot about it!" Akkiko grabbed hold of his arm. "Now come on—there is no way you're getting out of this. We can use the woods to practice."

"Wait—just a—Kat, how the hell do you stop her!" Inu-yasha called over his shoulder.

"She will never stop," Kat said, the poker game now ignored since Meg was helping Miroku who had been pegged by an errant ball thrown by Shippo. "She will never stop until she thinks she's won. Have fun." She put up a hand in mock-salute as the two hanyou disappeared into the dark forest.

"Think they'll be okay?" Kat asked over her shoulder.

"Oh, sure," Meg said. "In fact, I think this is just what Inu-yasha needs."

"Eh?" Kat turned to look at her friend quizzically.

"Oh, it's nothing."

* * *

Unsurprisingly, at least to Meg and Kat, Akkiko and Inu-yasha didn't emerge from the forest until dawn.

"Nothing like an all-night training session to get the blood flowing," Kat said philosophically, drying her face.

Meg raised an eyebrow as Inu-yasha nodded. "So. . .have a good time?"

Inu-yasha shot her a withering look. "She's nuts. . .and yet. . .she picks things up quick."

Akkiko, far from being tired, was even more hyper than the time she had been jacked up on five cans of iced tea.

"Woot! Bring on Naraku and his creepy incarnations! I will kick their sorry asses into next century!"

"Better to kick them into our century," Kat called. "Then we can kill them twice."

Akkiko ran up to Miroku and began retelling how she had learned the Iron Reaver Soul Stealer attack. Suffice to say, her brother wasn't looking thrilled.

"We've created a monster," Kat whispered to Meg.

"No; _Inu-yasha's_ created a monster," Meg said, calmly drying her hands.

"There goes the neighbourhood," they said at the same time.

* * *

Post-chapter notes: Hmm. . . .y'know that 'pinch of plot tossed in for good measure' I mentioned at the beginning of the chapter? I can't bloody see it.

I didn't really have a direction for this chapter to go, but it seems to mainly be about building on Akkiko and Inu-yasha's relationship (with a little building on Meg and Miroku's relationship )

So let's just mark this as a 'filler chapter' with some mild fluff and leave it at that—next chapter, I promise, will get back to the plot of the story. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to go pass out from exhaustion in that corner. . .

Akkiko: Finish the author's note, _then_ pass out :Stands over authoress with chainsaw:

:authoress sighs: I had to change a few details for this chapter. First of all, the bear demon that is threatening the village? It used to be a boar. . .Kinda like Akkoto in _Princess Mononoke_. . .only bigger -.-;; Also, it was originally Sango and Miroku that went off to get supplies, and Meg was swearing at Inu-yasha to get out of the tree when the bear/boar attacked, but then I thought 'Where's the logic in that? I am, after all, pairing Meg with Miroku', so that entire scene was kinda mutilated from its original idea—but that's okay, cuz it all turned out okay in the end.

As a minor note, I don't like Kikyo's character at all. The whole 'undead priestess' thing is getting kinda old, not to mention I can't handle the angst, or the way she keeps getting between Inu-yasha and Kagome in the TV series. I do accept her as sort-of needed character—but _still_! And, of course, I believe that whatever _is_ dead, should _stay_ dead. Thus, I obviously do not own Inu-yasha, cuz if I did, Kikyo wouldn't be around at all Oh, and as another minor note, Meg cannot _stand_ Kikyo _at all_, in real life as well as in any fanfiction I may write—in fact, I'm pretty sure she came up with that entire Meg-bitches-Kikyo-out scene ;; So there you go.

Finally, this chapter is dedicated to the author's of two wonderfully-written stories—A-Brighter-Dawn, who writes _Light in the Shadows_ (a Harry Potter fic), and Ladya C. Maxine, who writes _Sinners_ (a Beyblade fic). Both of these stories are on my Favorites list, and these are awesome writers who write awesome stories, and I am forever jealous of them and their super-long chapters So here's to you, ladies!

And now, before my author's note get longer than the actual frickin' chapter, I will go pass out. . .

(Final note: Seriously, I am tired—I got the idea for this chapter in the middle of night, while my brain was half-asleep, then typed out the whole damn thing in one day—okay, so some of the scenes were already written, but still! Not to mention I totally blew off English homework to work on this T.T I sacrifice so much for you guys. . .)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-yasha, or any characters/situations/places that are affiliated with Inu-yasha. I own any OC characters (save Meg and Akkiko, who own themselves), and despite all claims, I do not own Sesshomaru, Meg does not own Miroku, and Akkiko does not own Inu-yasha. Their _plushies_ on the other hand. . .


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